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THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK 
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PUBLISHED  DECEMBER,  1916 


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FOREWORD  f 

THIS  book  has  two  distinctly  practical  objects. 
Ability  to  distinguish  the  various  principal  styles 
of  architecture,  and  to  know  something  of  these  styles, 
should  be  a  part  of  the  education  and  culture  of  every 
well-informed  man  and  woman. 

The  aim  of  Part  I,  A  Practical  Guide  to  Styles,  is  to 
give,  as  part  of  a  liberal  education,  a  thorough  working 
knowledge  of  architecture  and  architectural  styles,  so 
far  as  is  necessary  for  the  use  of  the  general  reader, 
and  to  give  it  in  so  succinct  and  practical  a  way  that  it 
may  easily  be  assimilated. 

Part  II,  A  Practical  Guide  to  Building,  adds  to  the 
above  knowledge  information  of  a  more  practical  kind 
for  those  who  are  about  to  have  erected  for  them  houses 
or  other  buildings,  either  in  the  city  or  the  country,  at 
either  large  or  small  expense,  or  who  may  be  connected 
in  any  way  with  Advisory  Boards  for  the  erection  of 
buildings  of  a  more  public  character. 

The  chapter  on  arrangements  with  architect  and 
contractors  treats  of  a  subject  never  before  presented 
to  the  lay  reader  in  a  direct  manner,  and  a  glance  at  the 
Table  of  Contents  will  show  how  helpful  this  portion 
of  the  work  will  prove. 

In  presenting  a  practical  book  on  architecture  a 
distinct  responsibility  devolves  upon  the  author  —  a 
responsibility  which  can  be  discharged  only  to  the 
extent  to  which  it  may  be  possible  to  dispel  certain 
popular  illusions  which  have  always  clung  to  the  sub- 
ject, to  divide  and  separate  architecture  into  its  several 
proper  phases,  and  to  set  forth  salient  and  essential 
1 


2  FOREWORD 

points  in  a  manner  at  once  clear,  accurate  and 
illuminating. 

In  this  task  the  author  feels  that  the  opportunity  is 
as  great  as  the  responsibility,  and  that  in  the  following 
pages  it  may  be  possible  permanently  to  remove  the 
subject  of  architecture  as  a  whole  from  its  present 
classification  as  a  subject  technical  and  place  it  in  its 
true  position  as  a  subject  of  general  and  intimate  con- 
tact with  the  every-day  life  of  all  of  us. 

Architecture  is  a  comprehensive  subject,  but  should 
not  fairly  be  considered  a  complex  one.  That  it  has 
often  appeared  to  be  involved  in  complexity  and  tech- 
nicality is  due  to  the  fact  that  few  critics  or  expositors 
have  divided  the  subject  into  its  logical  parts  for 
separate  consideration. 

Architecture  involves  history,  design,  construction 
and  practice,  which  main  divisions  suggest  logical  sub- 
divisions. The  present  volume  is  not  designed  to  be  a 
history  of  architecture,  nor  is  it  a  treatise  on  any  one  of 
the  main  aspects  of  the  subject  in  general.  It  repre- 
sents, rather,  a  careful  effort  to  co-relate  the  essentials 
in  a  clear  and  concise  manner,  in  order  that  the  subject 
of  architecture  may  become,  as  it  should,  a  part  of  any 
liberal  education,  and  may  cease  to  be  regarded  as  a 
1  i  technical ' '  subject. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  work  the  author  has  en- 
deavoured to  give  to  each  consideration  of  the  subject 
its  proper  emphasis  with  regard  to  each  other  consider- 
ation, in  order  to  develop  a  complete  and  serviceable 
exposition  of  the  whole.  The  subject  of  architecture  in 
general  is  of  broad  interest  to  everyone.  To  those  who 
contemplate  building,  and  who  will  consequently  be 
called  upon  to  exercise  their  judgment  in  the  question 
of  architectural  design,  the  subject  is  of  direct  interest. 


FOREWORD  3 

The  logical  study  of  architecture,  for  either  class, 
must  begin  with  some  acquaintance  with  the  develop- 
ment of  architecture,  of  historic  types  and  forms,  then 
with  architectural  design,  in  which  forms  are  employed 
to  create  these  types.  Here  will  cease  the  study  of 
architecture  as  a  historic  development,  and  there  will 
have  been  acquired  a  practical  familiarity  with  types 
of  building,  styles,  and  the  architectural  forms  charac- 
teristic of  these  styles. 

With  this  practical  familiarity  as  a  preliminary 
equipment,  benefit  then  may  be  had  from  due  considera- 
tion of  the  practical  side  of  the  subject — the  selection 
of  site,  study  of  local  conditions,  natures  of  materials 
and  the  functions  of  the  architect.  This  dual  presenta- 
tion of  the  subject  forms  the  author's  plan  for  the 
present  work. 

The  author  wishes  to  acknowledge  with  gratitude 
the  kind  co-operation  of  the  following  architects  and 
others  who  have  generously  extended  courtesy  in  the 
matter  of  illustrations : 

To  the  architectural  profession  is  due  the  present 
degree  of  merit  attained  by  the  architecture  of  this 
country,  for  the  American  architect  has  been  forced  to 
deal  with  conditions  more  difficult  and  more  complex 
than  have  confronted  the  architects  of  other  lands  and 
other  times. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  overstate  the  further  impetus 
to  architectural  ideals  and  practice  which  would  be 
given  by  a  more  general,  popular  appreciation  and 
understanding  of  the  subject,  and  any  effort  to  develop 
this  understanding  so  that  it  will  benefit  architecture 
and  public  alike  must  call  for  the  most  serious  and 
sincere  effort  of  any  writer  in  the  field  of  architecture. 

In  addition  to  an  expression  of  indebtedness  to  all 


4  FOREWORD 

those  architects  whose  works  have  contributed  to  the 
illustration  of  this  book,  the  author  wishes  to  acknowl- 
edge with  gratitude  assistance  or  permission  connected 
with  certain  illustrations.  These  acknowledgments 
include  Messrs.  H.  D.  Eberlein,  W.  T.  E.  Price,  Julian 
Buckly,  H.  W.  Frohne,  Braun  &  Company,  and  the 
Architectural  Record.  In  the  matter  of  text,  the 
author 's  thanks  are  due  to  The  Churchman  for  courte- 
ous permission  to  quote  the  major  portion  of  the 
author's  " Symbolism  in  Architecture,"  and  to  Arts 
and  Decoration  for  courteous  permission  to  paraphrase 
certain  portions  of  the  author's  contributions  thereto, 
relative  to  "The  English  Point  of  View  in  Architec- 
ture," "Building  in  Brick,"  and  "  The  Inherent  Quali- 
ties of  Building  Materials. ' ' 

C.  MATLACK  PRICE 


CONTENTS 

PART  I 

A  PRACTICAL  GUIDE  TO  STYLES 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  ARCHITECTURE 15 

The  Nature  of  Architecture  and  its  Place  as  Part  of  a  Liberal 
Education.  The  Value  and  Benefit  of  Architectural  Appre- 
ciation. Architecture  not  a  Technical  Subject.  Some  Fun- 
damentals of  Architecture.  Understanding  of  Modern 
Architecture  Dependent  upon  Acquaintance  with  Past 
Historic  Styles. 

II.  THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE 28 

The  Growth  of  the  Great  Architectural  Styles.  The  Archi- 
tecture of  Egypt,  of  Assyia,  of  Greece,  of  Rome.  Byzan- 
tine and  Romanesque  Architecture. 

III.  THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  (Continued) 47 

Gothic  Architecture  and  Renaissance  Architecture.  A 
Study  of  the  Differing  Expressions  of  those  Two  Great  Styles 
in  Italy,  France,  Spain,  Belgium,  England  and  Germany. 

IV.  THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL 73 

A  Study  of  the  Immortal  Qualities  of  Classic  Architecture. 
Its  Manifestations  in  Several  "Classic"  Revivals.  The 
Important  Place  of  Classic  Architecture  in  the  Design  of 
Public  Buildings.  The  School  of  the  Beaux-Arts,  its  Teach- 
ings and  its  Wide  Influence. 

V.  BYZANTINE,  ROMANESQUE  AND  GOTHIC  DERIVATIONS 106 

The  "Romanesque  Revival"  in  America.  The  Place  of 
Romanesque  Styles  in  the  Architecture  of  To-day.  Gothic 
Derivations,  Ecclesiastical,  Collegiate,  Military  and  Secu- 
lar in  America. 

VI.  ENGLISH  DERIVATIONS,  EARLY  AND  MODERN 132 

The  Importance,  Causes  and  Meaning  of  English  Influences 
on  American  Architecture.  The  Anglo-American  Country- 
House.  The  Adaptability  of  English  Collegiate  Architec- 
ture. 

VII.  LATIN  DERIVATIONS  IN  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE 157 

Architectural  Types  Adapted  from  Italy,  France  and 
Spain.  The  Italian  Villa  in  America.  The  Important  Place 
of  Italian  Renaissance  Architecture.  French  Influences  in 
Chateaux,  Modern  City  Houses  and  Hotels.  Little  Appre- 
ciated Architectural  Legacy  from  Spain. 

5 


6  CONTENTS 

VIII.  NATIVE  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE 178 

American  Types  Characteristic  of  New  England,  The 
Middle  Atlantic  States,  and  The  South.  Creole  and 
Spanish  Colonial  Architecture.  "Secessionist"  Work  in 
the  Middle  West,  the  "Craftsman  Idea"  and  Some  Com- 
ments on  the  Bungalow. 

IX.  ARCHITECTURAL  ADDENDA 203 

New  Styles  Applied  to  Familiar  Uses,  and  Old  Styles 
Applied  to  New  Uses.  "L'Art  Nouveau,"  The  "Secession- 
ists" and  "Modernists."  The  City  House,  The  Office 
Building,  The  Loft  Building,  The  Modern  Hotel,  the  Apart- 
ment House  and  the  Great  Railroad  Terminal. 

PART  II 

A  PRACTICAL  GUIDE  TO  BUILDING- 
CHAPTER                                                                                                              PAGE 
I.  THE  SELECTION  OP  LOCATION,  STYLE,  MATERIAL  AND  ARCHI- 
TECT    225 

Style  from  Viewpoints  of  Relation  to  Site,  Material,  Gen- 
eral Appropriateness,  etc.  Local  Materials  and  Local  Labour 
Conditions.  Foresight  and  Advice.  Choosing  an  Architect. 

II.  ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT 244 

Building  is  a  Business  Transaction.  How  to  Consult  the 
Architect.  The  Nature  of  the  Architect's  Services.  What 
Architect  and  Client  should  each  Rightly  Expect  from  the 
Other.  Basis  of  Charges,  Supervision,  "Extras,"  etc. 
Architectural  Drawings  and  Specifications. 

III.  MATERIALS  AND  CONSTRUCTION 274 

Consideration  of  Physical  and  ^Esthetic  Properties  of  Build- 
ing Materials.  Natures,  Suitability,  Comparative  Costs, 
etc.,  of  Building  Materials.  The  Importance  of  Texture. 
Associated  Suitability  of  Materials  and  Styles. 

IV.  PLANS  AND  DETAILS 304 

Different  Kinds  of  Plans.  Importance  of  a  Definite  Method 
of  Procedure  in  Developing  Both  Plans  and  Details.  Notes 
on  Windows,  Doors,  Chimneys,  Stairways,  etc.  Wood- 
work, Interior  Trim  and  Finish,  Hardware,  Lighting  and 
Plumbing  Fixtures,  etc.  The  Best  Manner  in  which  to 
Insure  the  Fulfilment  of  Requirements. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Great  Tangley  Manor,  Surrey,  England Frontispiece 

From  an  Original  Water-colour  Painting  by  Anna  Richards 
Brewster. 

PLATE  PAGE 

ARCHITECTURAL  TERMINOLOGY,  ILLUSTRATED....     13 

I.  Egyptian  Bell  Capital  Column,  Egyptian  Stalk  Column,  Doric 

Order    (Modern),    Ionic    Order    (Modern),    Corinthian    Order 

(Modern),  Tuscan  Order  (Modern),  Composite  Order  (Modern). 

II.  Principal  Parts  of  a  Classic  Entablature,  Rusticated  Masonry, 

Quoins,  Rock-Faced  Masonry. 

III.  Common  Architectural  Motifs  of  Classic  Origin  (Greek  Key. 
Fret,    Anthemion,    Egg-and-Dart,    Leaf-and-Dart,    Wave   ana 
Guilloche). 

IV.  Marquise,  Cartouches  (French  and  Italian),  Spandrils,  Pediments 
(Curved,  Angular,  Cyma,  Broken),  Balusters. 

V.  Palladian  Entrance,  Palladian  Window,  Corbels,  Console,  Finial, 

Dormer  Window  in  Mansard  Roof,  Fanlight. 

VI.  Linenfold  Panel,  Greek  Acanthus,  Spiral  Volute,  Pilaster 
Capitals,  Modillion  and  Dentils,  Lantern,  Console  Keystone, 
Renaissance  Arabesque,  Lunette. 

VII.  Attributes,  Renaissance  and  Roman  Uses  of  Arch  and  Columns, 
Caryatid  Figure,  Terminal  Caryatid,  Terminal  Figure,  Spindles. 

PART  I. 

PAGE 

The  Towers  of  the  Chateau  of  Langeais 16 

A  Typical  American  Dwelling  of  the  Style  Erroneously  Called  "Queen 

Anne" 16 

"Monticello,"  The  Virginia  Home  of  Thomas  Jefferson 17 

The  Woolworth  Building,  seen  through  the 'Arcade  of  the  New  York 

Municipal  Building 18 

Two  Details  of  the  Cleveland  Post  Office  and  Federal  Building 19 

A  Greek  Doric  Temple  at  Segesta,  Sicily 34 

The  Caryatid  Porch  of  the  Greek  (Ionic),  Erechtheum,  Athens 34 

The  Corinthian  Temple  of  Jupiter  Stator,  Athens 35 

The  Arch  of  Constantine,  Rome 35 

The  Cathedral  of  St.  Mark,  Venice 38 

Detail:  Cloister  of  St.  Paul-beyond-the-walls,  Rome 38 

Typical  Byzantine  Columns,  Capitals  and  Carving 39 

The  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  Paris 48 

A  Typical  Gothic  Detail 48 

Rose  Window  of  the'Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  Paris 49 

Recessed  Doorway  of  the''Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  Paris 49 

Nave,  interior;  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  Paris 50 

Transept,  interior;  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  Paris 50 

Gothic  Chimeras  of  the  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  Paris 51 

Gothic  Gargoyles  of  the  Cathedral  of  N6tre  Dame,  Paris,  France 51 

Durham  Cathedral  from  the  River,  Durham,  England 52 


8  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Westminster  Abbey,  London,  England 52 

Gateway,  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  England 53 

Gateway,  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  England 53 

Doorway  of  "La  Psalette,"  Tours,  France 56 

Tower  of  "La  Psalette,"  Tours,  France 56 

Doorway  of  Chateau  of  Langeais,  France 57 

Courtyard  of  the  Maison  de  Tristan  I'Hermite,  Tours,  France 57 

The  Town  Hall,  Bruges,  Belgium 58 

The  Church  at  Malines,  Belgium 58 

The  Cathedral  of  Toledo,  Spain 59 

The  Puerta  del  Sol,  Toledo,  Spain 59 

The  Palace  of  the  Doges,  Venice,  Italy 60 

The  Palazzo  della  CaD'Oro,  Venice,  Italy 60 

Courtyard  of  the  Palazzo  Farnese,  Rome,  Italy 61 

Colonnade  of  the  Vatican,  Rome,  Italy 61 

The  Church  of  S.  Maria  della  Salute,  Venice,  Italy 62 

Doorway  of  the  Library  of  the  Cathedral  of  Sienna,  Italy 63 

The  Entrance  of  Whitehall,  London,  England 68 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  London,  England 68 

Classic  Derivations  in  Modern  American  Bank  Buildings  (Two 

Examples) 74 

The  New, York  City  Post  Office 75 

The  New  Harvard  Law  School,  Cambridge,  Mass 75 

A  Water  Temple  at  Sunol,  California 76 

A  Tea-House  of  Classic  Design,  on  a  Long  Island  (N.  Y.)  Country 

Estate 76 

The  Marble  Arch,  Hyde  Park,  London,  England 77 

The  Fogg  Museum  of  Art,  Cambridge,  Mass 77 

The  Cour  de  Marbre,  Palace  of  Versailles,  France 78 

Colonnade  of  the  Louvre,  Paris,  France 78 

The  Central  Pediment  of  the  Louvre,  Paris,  France 79 

The  Petit  Trianon,  Versailles,  France 79 

The  "Orangerie,"  Bois  du  Boulogne,  Paris,  France 80 

The  Chateau  de  Bagatelle,  Bois  du  Boulogne,  Paris,  France 80 

A  French  Classic  Shop,  New  York  City 81 

A  French  Classic  Publishing  Building,  New  York  City 81 

Colonnade  Row  (La  Grange  Terrace),  New  York  City 88 

A  Georgian  Porch  Detail  (Modern),  New  Haven,  Conn 89 

A  "Classic  Revival"  Porch,  Baltimore,  Md 89 

Details  from  the  Grand  Palais  des  Champs  Elysdes,  Paris,  France 

(Two  views) 102 

A  Fifth  Avenue  Shop  Front,  in  the  Modern  French  (Beaux-Arts)  Style  103 
A  New  York  City  House  Front  in  the  Modern  French  (Beaux-Arts) 

Style 104 

Engaged  Columns  of  the  Main  Fagade  of  the  New  York  Public  Library  105 
A  Modern  Church  of  Romanesque  Derivation,  Madison  Square 

Presbyterian  Church,  New  York  City 106 

Trinity  Church,  Boston,  Massachusetts 106 

Drawing  for  the  Porch  of  the  Cathedral  of  Baltimore,  Md 114 

St.  Thomas'  Church,  New  York  City 115 

Gothic  Arched  Entrance  to  Quadrangle,  Graduate  School,  Princeton 

University 122 

Grotesques  in  the  Gothic  Manner 123 

Rib-vaulted  Vestibule,  in  the  Gothic  Style,  Graduate  School,  Princeton 

University 123 


ILLUSTRATIONS  9 

The  Provost's  Tower,  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia 124 

Chapel  of  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point 125 

The  Woolworth  Building,  New  York  City 126 

Details  of  the  Woolworth  Building,  New  York  City  (Four  Views) 127 

An  American  Country  House  of  English  Derivation 132 

Detail:  Garden  Front  of  an  English-derived  American  Country  House  133 
Detail :  Terrace  and  Sun-Dial,  an  English-derived  American  Country 

House 134 

Tudor  Derivation  in  an  American  Country  House 135 

Old  Half-Timber  City  Houses,  Holborn,  London 136 

Half-timber  Dormitory  Building,  Princeton,  N.  J 136 

Heale  House,  Salisbury,  England 137 

An  English  Country  House,  Walton  on  Thames 140 

English  Derivation  in  an  American  Country  House 141 

American  Country  House  of  Composite  Origin 141 

Two  Modern  English  Derivations  in  American  Country  Houses 142 

Two  English  Derivations  in  Pennsylvania 14b 

A  Typical  English  " Neighbourhood"  Development 146 

A  Typical  English  Suburban  House 146 

Two  Modern  English  Suburban  Houses  in  Brick 147 

Private  Library  Building,  New  York  City 158 

Detail:  Private  Library  Building,  New  York  City 159 

Italian  Renaissance  Derivation  in  a  Fifth  Avenue  Shop  Front,  New 

York  City 160 

The  Public  Library  of  Boston,  Massachusetts 160 

Italian  Renaissance  Derivation  in  the  Loggia  of  a  Modern  American 

House 160 

Italian  Renaissance  Derivation  in  a  New  York  City  Shop  Front 161 

A  New  York  City  Shop  Front,  with  Sgraffito  Decoration 161 

Triple  Arched  Loggia  (Italian  Renaissance  Derivation)  in  a  New  York 

City  Shop  Front 161 

Sgraffito  Decoration  (Italian  Renaissance  Derivation)  in  a  New  York 

City  Shop  Front 161 

An  Italian  Derivation  in  an  American  Country  House,  General  View .  .  164 
An  Italian  Derivation  in  an  American  Country  House,  a  Terrace  Court- 
yard   165 

An  Italian  Derivation  in  an  American  Country  House,  from  a  Loggia  166 

An  Italian  Derivation  in  an  American  Country  House,  Wall  Fountain  167 

An  Italian  Derivation  in  an  American  Country  House,  Court 167 

An  Italian  Derivation  in  an  American  Country  House,  Pool  and 

Pavilion 168 

An  Italian  Villa  Derivation,  Front  View 168 

Patio  at  Pan-American  Union  Building,  Washington,  D.  C 168 

An  Italian  Villa  Derivation,  Garden  Front 169 

The  Chateau  de  Langeais,  France 169 

Spanish-Italian  Patio  of  a  Modern  American  Residence  in  California.  170 

Typical  Spanish  Buildings,  Spain 170 

Spanish  Renaissance  Derivation  in  Window  Treatment  in  California.  171 

Spanish  Renaissance  Details  in  an  Office  Building,  Chicago,  Illinois.  .  171 
An  Early  New  England  Dwelling  of  Gambrel  Roof  Type,  Hadlyme, 

Connecticut 174 

A  Typical  Dutch  Colonial  Dwelling,  at  Hackensack,  New  Jersey.  . . .  174 

A  Georgian  Colonial  Pediment  Porch,  with  Palladian  Window  Above. .  175 
A  Georgian  Derivation  in  the  Porch  of  a  Modern  American  Residence, 

German  town,  Pa 175 


10  ILLUSTRATIONS 

"  Wynnestay,"  an  Early  Colonial  Residence  near  Philadelphia 188 

A  Local  Modern  Derivation  of  the  Early  Pennsylvania  Type  of  Colo- 
nial Residence 188 

"Mt.  Pleasant  and  its  Dependencies,"  Philadelphia 188 

"Cliveden,"  Philadelphia 188 

Country  House  at  Valley  Forge,  Pa.,  Derived  from  Early  Local  Proto- 
types    189 

Country  House  of  Local  "Ledge  Stone,"  at  German  town,  Pa 189 

The  State  House,  "Independence  Hall,"  Philadelphia 189 

A  Modern  American  Country  House  Derived  from  the  Southern  Type 

of  Plantation  Dwelling 190 

"Whitehall,"  Anne  Arundel  County,  Maryland 192 

"The  White  House,"  Washington,  D.  C 192 

Two  Examples  of  the  Creole  Plantation  Villa,  New  Orleans,  Louisiana  193 

San  Gabriel  Mission,  California 194 

Country  House  of  Spanish  Derivation,  Sierra  Madre,  California 194 

Four  Views  of  a  Modern  Residence  of  Spanish  Derivation,  Typical  of 

California 195 

A  Typical  Recent  American  "Seaside  Villa"  of  no  Stylistic  Derivation  196 
A  Typical  Recent  American  Suburban  Dwelling  of  the  "Picturesque" 

Type 196 

Two  Modern  American  Country  House  Developments 197 

The  Style  of  the  "American  Secessionist"  seen  in  a  City  Residence  in 

Grand  Rapids,  Michigan 198 

An  Example  of  the  "Craftsman"  Type  of  Country  Dwelling 198 

Japanese  Influence  in  the  California  Bungalow 199 

A  Typical  "Bungalow"  of  Native  Redwood,  California 199 

Characteristic  Design  of  School  of  the  Austrian  or  Viennese  "Secession  "  204 

The  "Art  Nouveau,"  in  a  Parisian  Shop-front 204 

Flemish  Renaissance  City  Houses  on  the  Rue  Flamande,  Bruges, 

Belgium. .  .  208 

Flemish    Renaissance    Derivation    in    a    Modern    New   York    City 

Residence 208 

Two  Modern  American  City  Residences,  Typical  of  the  Newer  Devel- 
opments    209 

The  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Building,  New  York  City 212 

The  Equitable  Life  Insurance  Building,  New  York  City 212 

The  Hotel  Vanderbilt,  New  York  City 213 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Station,  New  York  City 220 

The  Grand  Central  Railroad  Station,  New  York  City 220 

PART  II 

Successful  Design  for  a  Level  Site 228 

Successful  Design  for  a  Hillside  Site 228 

A  Modern  Country  House  Essentially  American 229 

AlSmall  Cottage  of  Native  Derivation 229 

Simplicity  and  Charm  in  a  Small  English  Cottage  (2  views) 238 

Two  Typical  Modern  English  "Detached  Houses" 239 

An  Architect's  Preliminary  Drawing  for  a  Country  House 244 

The  Country  House  as  Actually  Executed 244 

A  Preliminary  Drawing  for  a  Small  Village  Library 266 

Reproduction  (Reduced)  of  a  J^-Inch  Working  Drawing  of  a  House 

Elevation 266 

Reproduction  (Reduced)  of  a  J^-Inch  Working  Drawing  of  a  House 

Floor-Plan 266 


ILLUSTRATIONS  11 

Reproduction  (Actual  Size)  of  a  Portion  of  a  J^-Inch  Working  Draw- 
ing of  a  House  Elevation 267 

Reproduction  (Actual  Size)  of  a  Portion  of  a  ^-Inch  Working  Draw- 
ing of  a  House  Floor-Plan 267 

Reproduction  (Actual  Size)  of  a  Portion  of  a  1  H-Inch  Scale  Detail  of 

Tile  Eaves 267 

Reproduction  (Actual  Size)  of  a  Portion  of  a  Full-size  Working  Draw- 
ing of  the  Top  of  a  Wainscot 268 

An  Architect's  Projet  for  a  National  Memorial  Monument 272 

The  Possibilities  of  Building  Materials  seen  in  an  American  Country 

House  near  Chicago 276 

Two  Instances  of  the  Decorative  Importance  of  Texture 277 

Use  of  Local  Materials  in  Two  Typical  Modern  American  Dwellings 

of  Moderate  Cost 278 

An  American  Expression  of  the  Modern  English  Country  House 279 

The  Same  House  in  Local  Stone  and  Half-timber  Construction 279 

Good  Relation  of  Design  and  Materials  in  a  Large  Country  House 

near  Philadelphia 294 

The  Expression  of  Texture  in  Building  Materials 295 

The  Use  of  Stucco  as  an  Exterior  Finish 295 

A  Modern  American  Country  House  of  Actual  Half-Timber  Construc- 
tion   298 

Two  Details  of  Door  and  Window  Treatments 318 

Two  Typical  Examples  of  the  Modern  English  Country  House 319 

Modern  American  Real-Estate  Houses 324 

A  Row  of  Houses  in  the  "Model  Village"  of  Letchworth,  England.  . .  324 
The  Application  of  Architecture  to  Utilitarian  Buildings  in  a  California 

Power-house  (two  views) 325 


AN  ILLUSTRATED  TERMINOLOGY 
OF  ARCHITECTURE 

NOTE 

Regardless  of  the  extent  to  which  any  special  subject 
may  be  treated  for  general  reading,  there  must  always  be 
certain  terms  of  a  more  or  less  technical  nature,  an  under- 
standing of  which  is  essential  even  on  the  part  of  the 
general  reader. 

It  is  the  intention,  therefore,  of  the  following  seven 
pages  to  illustrate  certain  of  the  most  common  architec- 
tural terms.  It  is  obvious  that,  in  limited  compass,  it 
would  be  impossible  to  illustrate  all  special  architectural 
terms,  nor  would  it  be  necessary  for  the  purpose  of  this 
book  to  do  so. 

This  brief  "  Illustrated  Terminology,"  then,  is  designed 
to  acquaint  the  reader  with  the  names  of  certain  com- 
monly seen  architectural  features,  familiarity  with  which 
should  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  everyone's  education. 

In  some  cases  the  reader  will  be  enabled  to  learn  the 
architectural  name  for  an  often-noticed  feature — will 
learn,  for  example,  that  the  wall-space  between  two  arches 
is  called  a  "  spandril."  In  other  cases  the  reader  will  be 
enabled  to  identify  some  architectural  feature  the  name 
but  not  the  nature  of  which  is  known — will  learn  for  ex- 
ample, by  consulting  the  "Illustrated  Terminology," 
what  is  a  "  pediment." 


EGYPTIAN  BELL. 
CAPITAL. 
(Karnak.) 


EGYPTIAN  STALK 
COLUMN.  , 
(Luxor.) 


THE  DORIC  ORDER. 
(Modern  Version.) 


. 


THE  IONIC  ORDER. 
(Modern  Version.) 


THE  CORINTHIAN  ORDER — COLUMN 

AND   PILASTER. 
(Modern  Version.) 


THE  TUSCAN  ORDER. 

(or  "Roman  Doric.") 

(Modern  Version.) 


THE  COMPOSITE 

ORDER. 
(Modern  Version.) 


cm  A 


S  COFFER 


Si 

<  8 
5  g 

PJ  ~*r 


z 

g   MOJMLLION^ 


31NTILJ 


S 

*=    PIV1DED  .x 

§    THKEtTAHTJ 


VOLVTTE 
AcANtHVS  TOLIATION 


TlLLET.^r 
HECK1NQ 


THE   PRINCIPAL   PARTS  OF  A   CLASSIC   ENTABLATURE. 
SHOWN    IN    A    MODERN    BUILDING. 


.RUSTICATED    MASONRY. 


STONE  QUOINS 
IN    BRICK-WORK. 


r  I  r  L!  FTFTJ I "  I  rll  I "  I  r  lJ  F 

_iJ I  r^il^ij  I  r^U^iiJ  |  r^iJ^iJ  |  r^il— 


GREEK    KEY   OR    FRET    MOTIF. 


GREEK    KEY   OR   FRET   MOTIF. 


THE  GREEK  ANTHEMION 
MOTIF. 


LEAF    AND    DART 

MOULDING. 
(Also   called 
Leaf   and    Tongue.) 


EGG  AND  DART 
MOULDING  AND 
BEAD  MOULDING. 


LOUIS    XVI     GuiLLOCHE. 

COMMON     ARCHITECTURAL    MOTIFS    OF    CLASSIC     ORIGIN. 


MARQUISE. 


CURVED   PEDIMENT. 
(With   Cartouche.) 


CARTOUCHE. 
(Modern 
French.) 


CARTOUCHE. 

(Italian 
Renaissance.) 


ANGULAR    PEDIMENT. 
(Space    within    Pediment 
called   the   Tympanum.) 


(  YMA  PEDIMENT. 
(With    Flame    Finial.) 


SPANDRIL   BETWEEN   Two  ARCHES. 


SPANDRIL    DECORATION    OF    MASQUE 

AND     FIGURES,     WITH     CARTOUCHE 

OVER  ARCH. 


BALUSTERS. 


PALLADIAN    ENTRANCE. 


PALLADIAN    WINDOW. 


CORBELS — GROTESQUE  AND  FOLIATED. 
(Gothic.) 


GROTESQUE    CORBELS.      (Brackets.) 
(Italian    Renaissance.) 


DORMER    WINDOW    WITH    CURVED 
PEDIMENT,    IN    A    MANSARD    ROOF. 


CONSOLE 


FINIAL  URN. 


FANLIGHT  OVER  A   DOOR. 


ACANTHUS   LEAVES. 
(From   Corinthian   Capital.) 


SPIRAL    VOLUTE. 
(From  Ionic  Capital.) 


COMPOSITE  PILASTER  CAPITAL. 
(With    Greek    Fret.) 


(Successive    ages    have    developed    a 

great  variety   of  capitals,   though  all 

are    based    on    the    original    Classic 

Orders.) 


ACANTHUS   MODILLION. 
CWith   Dentils  Above.; 


CONSOLE    KEY-STONE. 

(The    other    stones    in    the    arch    are 

"Voussoirs.") 


ROMAN    DORIC    PILASTER    CAPITAL. 
(With    Egg  and    Dar 


-     ^ 


LANTERN. 


LUNETTE. 


J  It 


ITALIAN 
RENAISSANCE 
"ARABESQUE." 


SPANDRIL   DECORATION,   CONSISTING 

OF  "ATTRIBUTES"   OF   ART,   Music 

AND  INDUSTRY. 


ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 

USE  OF  COLUMN  AND 

ARCH. 


ROMAN  USE 
OF  COLUMN 
AND  ARCH. 


CARYATID 
FIGURE. 


SPINDLES. 

(After    the    Italian 

Renaissance.) 


PART  I 
A  PRACTICAL  GUIDE  TO  STYLES 


THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK 
OF  ARCHITECTURE 

CHAPTER  I 
ARCHITECTURE 

THE  NATURE  OF  ARCHITECTURE  AND  ITS  PLACE  AS  PART 
OF  A  LIBERAL  EDUCATION.  THE  VALUE  AND  BENEFIT 
OF  ARCHITECTURAL  APPRECIATION.  ARCHITECTURE 
NOT  A  TECHNICAL  SUBJECT.  SOME  FUNDAMENTALS 
OF  ARCHITECTURE.  UNDERSTANDING  OF  MODERN 
ARCHITECTURE  DEPENDENT  UPON  ACQUAINTANCE 
WITH  PAST  HISTORIC  STYLES 

TO  attempt  to  define  architecture,  or  art,  is  to  fall 
into  the  danger  of  dealing  in  catch-phrases.  Few 
definitions  are  safe,  and  the  best  of  them  are  more  clever 
than  accurate.  Architecture  has  been  called  ' '  the  art  of 
building  beautifully ' '  which,  perhaps,  is  as  valuable  as 
most  epigrammatic  definitions.  The  attempt  has  been 
made  from  the  time  of  Vitruvius,  and  an  early  English 
writer,  paraphrasing  that  classic  authority,  states  that 
"Well-building  hath  three  conditions:  Commodity, 
Firmness  and  Delight."  Perhaps  it  would  be  hard  to 
find  any  terse  characterisation  so  accurately  applicable 
to  all  architecture — that  a  building  should  be  appro- 
priate to  its  use,  strongly  built,  and  pleasing  to  look 
upon.  This  interesting  statement,  however,  could  not 
be  called,  exactly,  a  definition  of  architecture,  although 
it  gives  us  a  reasonably  clear  idea  of  the  aim  and 
purpose  of  architecture. 

Taking  any  one  of  these  three  essentials  alone  as 
the  aim  of  architecture,  the  world  would  have  been,  and 

15 


16   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

would  be  to-day,  a  heavy  loser.  Conceive  first  the 
aspect  of  architecture  if  "Commodity"  or  the  intended 
use  of  the  building  had  been  always  its  sole  governing 
architectural  factor.  Grain  elevators  and  factories  are 
built  primarily  with  a  view  to  use,  and  include  also  the 
second  essential  of  "Firmness,"  but  ignore  the  third. 

The  third,  however,  the  building  which  has  been  so 
beautifully  designed  that  it  is  a  "Delight,"  would  be 
but  a  short-lived  one  if  it  were  not  firmly  built,  and  a 
useless  one  if  it  served  no  purpose. 

We  must  think  of  architecture,  then,  regardless  of 
its  divisions  into  domestic,  monumental  or  ecclesiastical 
buildings,  as  a  perfect  co-relation  of  the  three  essentials 
of  suitability,  strength  and  beauty.  In  certain  types  of 
building  one  of  these  considerations,  or  two,  may  some- 
what overbalance — each  of  the  three  may  not  hold 
equal  importance.  Generally  speaking,  however,  archi- 
tecture must  take  cognisance  of  all,  and  by  keeping  the 
three  essentials  constantly  in  mind  in  our  individual 
consideration  of  any  given  building,  we  will  establish 
from  the  outset  a  certain  basis  of  universal  application, 
regardless  of  "style"  or  any  other  detail.  We  will  ask 
ourselves:  "What  kind  of  a  building  is  this?  What 
was  its  purpose?  Does  its  design  express  this  pur- 
pose ?  Is  it  well-built,  or  is  its  construction  cheap  and 
dishonest?  Is  it  pleasing  in  its  form  and  detail?" 
These  are  basic  considerations  of  significance,  entirely 
independent  of  whether  it  be  designed  in  the  style  of  the 
Italian  Eenaissance  or  Modern  French ;  whether  we  are 
looking  at  a  church  or  a  theatre. 

It  is  an  interesting  circumstance  that  this  country 
affords  an  opportunity  to  study  adaptations — in  many 
cases  excellent  adaptations — of  the  architectural  styles 
of  all  countries  and  all  periods.  Architecturally,  as 


THE  TOWERS  OF  THE  CHATEAU  OF  LANGEAIS 


A  TYPICAL  AMERICAN  DWELLING,  OF  THE  STYLE 
ERRONEOUSLY  CALLED  "QUEEN  ANNE" 

Above  and  behind  our  most  intimate  architecture,  as  well  as  our  more  imposing 
buildings,  looms  the  great  background  of  architectural  precedent  and  historic 
origin,  full  of  an  interest  which  should  make  itself  felt  to  every  intelligently 
observant  person 


ARCHITECTURE  17 

well  as  racially,  America  has  been  the  melting-pot. 
There  has  been  no  one  style,  because  in  this  country  we 
are  not  one  people,  but  many — and  there  has  been  no 
typical  American  architecture,  as  a  noted  architect  re- 
cently pointed  out,  because  we  have  no  typical  climate 
in  America,  no  typical  landscape  or  no  typical  civilisa- 
tion. This,  however,  is  a  question  of ' l  style, ' '  to  pursue 
which  further  at  this  point  would  be  to  depart  from 
broad  generalities. 

At  the  outset  it  seems  a  part  of  this  work  to  point 
out  forcibly  the  importance  of  some  degree  of  general 
understanding  and  appreciation  of  the  broad  principles 
of  architecture.  Many  of  us  seldom  come  in  contact 
with  paintings,  or  sculpture,  or  other  fine  arts.  We  are 
not  obliged  to  listen  to  music  or  to  follow  the  drama. 
If  we  go  out-doors,  however,  we  cannot  fail  to  see 
buildings  everywhere — buildings  good,  bad  and  indif- 
ferent. Some  are  important,  all  are  interesting  in 
some  particular.  The  unfortunate  thing  is  that  so 
many  people  see  only  buildings,  and  have  never  trained 
themselves  to  see  architecture.  The  aspect  of  buildings, 
quite  apart  from  any  individual  interests  of  the  pros- 
pective builder,  is  so  inseparably  a  part  of  our  daily 
lives  that  it  would  seem  highly  desirable  to  develop  at 
least  a  high-school  course  on  the  appreciation  of  archi- 
tecture. Architecture  is  not  a  " special"  subject — it  is 
a  universal  subject  confronting  us  at  every  turn. 

There  was  a  time  when  a  knowledge  of  architecture, 
together  with  the ' '  Classics, ' '  formed  an  important  part 
of  the  education  of  a  gentleman.  The  stately  and  class- 
ical dignity  of  many  of  the  fine  old  manor  houses  of 
the  South  was  due  more  to  the  architectural  education 
of  their  owners  than  to  the  taste  of  the  master-builders. 
Thomas  Jefferson  made  the  actual  drawings  for 

2 


18   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

'  *  Monticello, ' '  as  well  as  for  the  buildings  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Virginia.  He  was  not  an  architect,  but  archi- 
tecture had  been  part  of  his  education.  To-day  there 
are  few  men  who,  between  business  and  social  activities, 
would  have  time  to  draw  the  plans  for  their  houses, 
even  if  they  had  the  ability.  The  architect  is  better 
equipped  for  this  work ;  but  an  architectural  education, 
no  matter  how  slight,  would  assure  intelligent  and  effec- 
tive understanding  of  the  architect's  work.  To  most 
people  the  architect's  work  is  far  more  mysterious  and 
incomprehensible  than  that  of  the  lawyer  or  the  doctor, 
while  it  should  by  all  rights  be  readily  and  intelligently 
understood. 

It  is  assumed  that  anyone  about  to  build  becomes, 
perforce,  interested  in  architecture,  but  by  reason  of  a 
late  interest,  and  no  personal  basis  of  "architectural  con- 
viction, he  is  obliged  either  to  make  a  hasty  and  half- 
considered  survey  of  the  subject,  or  to  accept  the  varied 
and  usually  conflicting  architectural  advices  of  his 
friends,  many  of  whom  are  no  better  equipped  in  this 
direction  than  he.  His  very  ignorance  makes  him  sus- 
picious that  the  architect  may  design  for  him  a  building 
which  he  will  not  like,  whereas,  had  he  any  appreciation 
or  understanding  of  architecture,  he  would  be  under  no 
apprehensions. 

In  addition  to  the  prospective  builder,  there  is  the 
much  larger  class  comprised  of  those  who  probably 
never  will  build  for  themselves,  or  be  called  upon  to 
exercise  any  architectural  knowledge  in  so  direct  a  man- 
ner. To  these,  however,  no  less  than  to  the  prospective 
builder,  architecture  should  be  an  open  book.  Their 
walks  abroad  would  become  of  abundant  and  varied 
interest,  and  every  building  would  hold  a  story  which 
they  had  never  before  been  able  to  read. 


Photograph  by  .liiliun  Buckly 


"THE   BATTLE   OF  THE  STYLES" 

The  great  tower  of  the  Woolworth  Building,  carried  out  in  a  free  modernised  rendering  of 
Gothic  architecture,  is  seen  through  the  Classic-Renaissance  colonnade  of  the  New  York 
Municipal  Building,  while  a  glimpse  is  also  visible  of  the  old  Eighteenth  Century  Franco- 
Anglo-Classic  New  York  City  Hall 


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ARCHITECTURE  19 

Nor  should  allusion  be  omitted  to  the  citizen  who 
is  called  upon,  as  a  member  of  a  board,  to  pass  judg- 
ment on  the  design  of  an  important  public  building. 
It  is  unfortunate  if  a  private  house  be  bungled — calami- 
tous in  the  case  of  a  library  or  a  city  hall.  In  this  con- 
nection we  are  impressed  by  the  importance  of  archi- 
tectural education  as  a  civic  obligation,  as  a  duty  to  the 
community.  Public  money  is  being  spent  yearly 
throughout  the  country  for  the  erection  of  important 
public  buildings,  yet  architecturally,  the  public  has 
never  seen  the  buildings.  It  is  by  no  means  to  be  recom- 
mended, however,  that  public  opinions  on  architecture 
be  set  up  to  overthrow  professional  opinions  on  archi- 
tecture, excepting  in  the  case  of  an  incompetent l  'politi- 
cal" architect.  It  is  rather  the  contention  that  public 
appreciation  of  architecture  will  result  in  securing  bet- 
ter results  through  an  understanding  of  what  the 
architect  is  trying  to  do.  The  board  may  insist  upon 
ruining  the  appearance  of  an  important  building  in 
order  to  save  a  few  thousand  dollars,  or  may  vote  down 
the  architect's  project  for  a  splendid  monumental 
approach.  If  the  members  of  the  board,  and  the  people 
themselves,  wore  architecturally  educated,  the  neces- 
sary funds  would  be  forthcoming  through  public 
subscription.  To  appreciate  the  possibilities  of  a  noble 
architectural  idea  is  to  desire  its  execution.  In  the 
second  part  of  this  book  there  will  be  attempted  an 
introduction  to  that  interesting,  but  unknown  indi- 
vidual, the  Architect. 

To  understand  architecture  has  been  supposed  to 
be  a  "gift,"  an  implication  of  some  peculiar  talent  or 
taste.  This,  however,  may  readily  be  proved  an  erro- 
neous idea,  for  although  architecture  is  no  less  an  art 
than  painting  or  music,  it  is  different  in  certain  salient 


20   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

particulars.  A  masterpiece  of  painting  or  of  music  is 
the  result  of  inspiration — a  masterpiece  of  architecture 
is  the  result  of  evolution.  To  understand  painting  or 
music  is  to  understand  their  underlying  inspiration — 
to  understand  architecture  one  need  but  understand  the 
stages  of  architectural  evolution  which  produced  a 
given  example.  Nor  should  understanding  be  confused 
with  enjoyment.  Most  receptive  natures  find  enjoy- 
ment in  art,  in  music,  in  architecture,  in  nature,  in  all 
that  surrounds  them;  but  their  enjoyment  is  a  thing 
of  the  senses,  in  which  understanding  plays  no  part. 
Knowledge  raises  their  understanding  to  the  level  of 
intelligent  appreciation. 

To  see  in  all  architecture  a  product  of  evolution,  is 
to  possess  at  once  the  key  to  its  study.  Obviously  the 
art  of  building,  at  first  more  a  necessity  than  an  art, 
has  from  the  dawn  of  civilisation  been  very  closely 
linked  with  the  development  of  the  human  race,  and 
has,  in  a  measure,  influenced  the  people  who  created 
it.  In  this  connection  between  human  and  architec- 
tural evolution  there  is  more  than  a  mere  sentimental 
coincidence.  Different  kinds  of  civilisation,  character- 
ised by  different  religious  and  social  developments  all 
produced  different  architectural  manifestations,  some- 
times new,  often  evolved  from  earlier  forms.  The  pros- 
perity of  kingdoms,  their  days  of  degeneracy,  and  their 
downfall  are  mirrored  by  contemporary  architectural 
monuments  as  vividly  as  in  the  words  of  contemporary 
historians.  Being  a  work  of  the  hand  of  man,  archi- 
tecture has  always  reflected  the  mind  of  man — and  in 
this  alone  should  lie  much  of  its  interest. 

No  architecture  of  the  past,  perhaps,  has  been  so 
little  expressive  as  our  own  architecture  of  to-day, 
unless  future  ages  are  to  read  in  it  the  commentary  that 


ARCHITECTURE  21 

* '  at  this  time ' '  artistic  ideas  and  ideals  were  in  a  transi- 
tional stage,  the  study  and  adaptation  of  earlier  styles 
of  other  lands  characterised  North  American  architec- 
ture, and  in  the  security  of  employing  recognised  and 
meritorious  types,  we  had  no  desire  to  experiment,  or 
to  evolve  originalia. 

A  good  many  architectural  critics  have  bitterly 
assailed  the  times  because  the  American  nation,  since 
its  earlier  days,  has  created  no  characteristic  architec- 
tural style.  There  are,  however,  two  sides  to  this 
contention. 

Looking  back  over  the  evolution  of  architectural 
styles,  it  will  be  found  that  new  styles  arose  only  when 
old  ones  were  out-worn,  when  conditions  made  them 
obsolete,  or  when  some  new  social  or  religious  change 
logically  dictated  new  architectural  forms.  No  new 
style  was  founded  without  reason,  and  solely  because 
of  a  desire  for  novelty.  In  no  case  has  any  good  come 
of  an  effort  to  be  original  solely  for  the  sake  of  orig- 
inality. The  "Art  Nouveau"  was  an  illustration  of 
this — an  effort  to  evolve  new  forms  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  breaking  what  certain  restless  spirits  believed  to  be 
the  monotony  of  existing  artistic  ideas.  And  the  "Art 
Nouveau"  movement  is  now  remembered  as  an  epi- 
demic of  ephemeral  madness,  leaving  after  it  no  trace 
or  influence.  It  died  because  it  had  no  reason  ever 
to  have  been  created,  and  because,  in  itself,  it  was  not 
logical  or  legitimate. 

That  the  last  century,  almost,  in  this  country  has 
seen  the  development  of  no  striking  "national"  archi- 
tecture is  not  surprising,  and  should  not  be  distressing. 
In  architecture,  above  all  other  arts,  it  is  the  part  of 
wisdom  to  proceed  slowly,  and  to  be  very  sure  of  each 
step.  Sincere  adaptations  of  old  or  ancient  styles  are 


22   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

much  to  be  preferred  if  the  alternative  is  a  meaningless 
style  evolved  only  as  a  tour  de  force — an  attempt  to 
prove  an  originality  which  does  not  exist.  If  this  coun- 
try is  destined  to  produce  a  " style,"  recognisable  as 
such,  nothing  could  prevent  it — our  legacies  of  past 
styles  from  other  lands  would  be  as  straws  in  the 
current.  It  has  been  so  always. 

Nor  can  our  present  adaptations  of  many  styles  be 
construed  as  a  contradiction  to  the  idea  of  architectural 
evolution.  It  is  a  far  more  natural  condition  that  many 
styles  prevail  in  equal  favour,  than  that  one  style  should 
be  paramount  in  this  country  at  the  present  time. 

The  present  age  is  one  of  travel  and  of  education — 
of  photography  and  of  illustration.  And  human  nature 
is  accountable  for  the  selective  proclivity.  Every  one  of 
us  instinctively  cherishes  some  personal  ideal  of  a 
country-house,  for  example,  be  it  an  Italian  villa, 
an  English  manor,  or  a  French  chateau.  That  ideal 
would  not  be  sacrificed  for  the  sake  of  conformity  to 
some  "  national"  style  of  architecture.  We  would 
still  take  pages  out  of  the  picture-book  of  all  past 
architecture. 

Italian  villas  are  not,  necessarily,  consistent  in  their 
architectural  style  because  the  Italians  were  architec- 
turally consistent.  The  men  who  built  them,  and  for 
whom  they  were  built,  knew  of  no  other  type.  They 
were  not  distracted  by  a  variety  of  other,  and  perhaps 
equally  pleasing,  ideas,  and  consequently,  by  following 
the  prevalent  style,  there  was  evolved  a  distinctive  type. 

As  proof  of  the  effect  which  the  selective  proclivity 
of  the  individual  may  have  upon  architectural  design, 
consider  the  architecture  of  England.  In  the  matter 
of  style  there  was  not  so  much  conservatism  or  consis- 
tency as  has  been  supposed.  Once  the  landed  gentry 


ARCHITECTURE  23 

began  to  travel,  new  architectural  ideas  came  in.  The 
Italian  garden  was  admired,  and  many  Italian  gardens 
were  laid  out  on  English  estates.  The  Englishman 
preferred  his  own  kind  of  house,  so  he  did  not  adapt 
the  Italian  villa.  Many  Italian  painters,  decorators 
and  artisans,  however,  were  brought  over  to  create 
interiors  and  works  of  art  to  gratify  the  "classic" 
tastes  which  had  arisen  as  a  result  of  travel.  Contact 
with  the  Far  East  created  a  mania  for  "the  Chinese 
taste,"  mostly  evidenced  in  Chippendale's  furniture, 
but  nevertheless  potently  in  favour  in  many  other  di- 
rections— and  certainly  a  style  as  alien  to  English  tra- 
ditions as  could  be  conceived.  Later  came  the  Brothers 
Adam,  imprinting  the  architecture  and  furniture  of 
their  time  with  a  classicism  which  was  not  to  wear  off 
until  the  late  Georgian  period. 

The  more  intercourse  of  ideas,  the  more  travel,  the 
more  familiarity  with  varied  styles,  certainly  the  less 
will  be  the  likelihood  of  the  development  of  any  one 
essentially  new  style.  And  because  the  intelligent  and 
practical  study  of  the  architecture  of  this  country  to- 
day must  be  largely  a  study  of  adaptations,  it  is  essen- 
tial to  be  able  to  trace  derivations  with  accuracy  and 
ease.  It  would  be  impossible  to  acquire  any  understand- 
ing or  appreciation  of  the  architecture  of  this  country 
to-day  without  a  practical  familiarity  with  the  great 
architectural  styles  of  Europe. 

With  this  in  view,  the  following  two  chapters  are 
designed  to  outline  concisely  the  evolution  of  historic 
architecture,  with  special  reference  to  the  character- 
istics of  the  styles,  discussed  consecutively,  and  with 
as  great  a  degree  of  brevity  as  is  consistent  with 
adequate  presentation. 

Before  proceeding,  however,  to  traverse  the  ages 


24      THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

from  the  time  of  the  Egyptian  temple-builders  up  to  the 
present  day,  a  few  absolute  fundamentals  of  design 
should  be  comprehended  by  the  reader  in  order  that  it 
may  be  seen  to  what  extent  the  architects  of  the  historic 
styles  succeeded  in  realising  their  intentions. 

It  would  be  an  easy  matter,  in  this  direction,  to 
plunge  the  reader  into  a  maze  of  technicalities,  whereas 
a  real  grasp  of  four  great  essentials  of  architectural 
design  may  be  said  to  comprehend  all  lesser  points.  If 
these  four  essentials  have  been  rationally  realised  in 
a  given  building,  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  the  building 
is  worthy  of  the  name  of  "architecture." 

The  design  of  a  building,  regardless  of  its  " style" 
or  its  function  or  uses,  should  be  expressive  and  appro- 
priate, and  the  designer  should  have  demonstrated  in 
his  finished  building  his  grasp  of  the  architectural 
essential  of  scale  and  the  pictorial  essential  of  light- 
and-shade. 

Briefly  considering  these  four  essentials — a  building 
defeats  its  own  design  if,  while  seemingly  a  tall  and 
upright  building,  this  effect  is  destroyed  by  strong 
horizontal  lines.  The  result  is  a  distressing  optical  and 
mental  confusion  on  the  part  of  the  beholder — an  inevi- 
table doubt  as  to  whether  or  not  the  architect  had  been 
perfectly  certain  in  his  own  mind  as  to  what  he  was 
trying  to  express.  The  tall,  upright  building  should 
express  its  height,  with  an  introduction  of  horizontal 
members  so  subsidiary  to  the  vertical  as  to  serve  only 
to  break  the  monotony.  A  long,  low  building  should 
contain  no  conspicuous  elements  in  its  design  which 
will  detract  from  its  horizontality.  In  short,  any  build- 
ing should  immediately  and  unequivocally  express  the 
intention  of  its  designer,  should  be  a  building  massive 
and  dignified,  light  and  graceful,  tall  and  upright,  or  low 


ARCHITECTURE  25 

and  spreading,  or  of  any  other  type.  If  we  are  assailed 
by  any  doubt  or  conjecture  in  so  important  an  aspect  of 
the  building,  we  may  well  expect  to  find  further  serious 
evidences  of  inept  design. 

On  the  score  of  appropriateness,  there  is,  perhaps, 
little  to  say  which  would  not  be  obvious.  The  design  of 
a  building,  irrespective  of  its  style,  should  be  expressive 
of  the  purpose  or  nature  of  the  building,  and  hence 
appropriate.  A  little  millinery  shop  should  not  look 
like  a  bank  building.  Appropriateness  inevitably  in- 
volves style,  because  certain  styles  are  peculiarly  suited 
to  the  expression  of  certain  ideas.  Classic  styles  are 
dignified,  modern  French  styles  are  festive,  Italian 
styles  are  refined  and  graceful — and  so  on  through  the 
pages  of  architecture.  The  able  architect  is  the  archi- 
tect who  can  unerringly  select  for  the  design  of  a  given 
building  the  style  which  will  most  clearly  and  effec- 
tively express  the  intent  of  that  building. 

"Scale"  is  a  word  seldom  met  with  outside  the 
architectural  draughting  room,  or  outside  the  conver- 
sation of  designers,  and  this  is  unfortunate,  because 
the  term  is  not  a  "technical"  one,  and  errors  in  scale 
are  more  common  than  errors  of  any  other  kind — be  the 
question  involved  one  of  architecture,  furniture  design, 
or  even  the  selection  of  a  picture  frame. 

In  plain  diction, ' '  scale ' '  involves  the  relationship  of 
parts,  whether  well  or  ill  related.  If  a  window,  for 
example,  is  of  exactly  the  right  proportions  for  a  wall- 
space  which  it  occupies,  the  architect  says  it  is  "in 
scale."  If,  however,  this  window  is  too  large  or  too 
small,  he  says  it  is  "  out  of  scale. ' '  A  f agade  may  be 
admirably  designed,  and  in  every  way  pleasing,  with 
the  exception  of  one  fatal  defect:  the  cornice,  for  in- 
stance, may  be  "out  of  scale" — may  be  overpoweringly 


26   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

heavy,  or  may  be  insignificant  and  inadequate  in  rela- 
tion, or  in ' '  scale ' '  with  the  rest  of  the  design.  A  single 
moulding,  a  single  bracket  may  be  '  *  out  of  scale, ' '  mar- 
ring the  whole  design.  No  member  of  a  building  is  too 
large  or  too  small  to  escape  the  necessity  of  " scale." 
An  entire  wing  or  a  tower  may  be  '  *  out  of  scale, "  or  a 
single  feature  (apparently)  so  unimportant  as  the  key- 
stone over  a  window.  It  is  apparent,  then,  that  an 
architect's  success  as  measured  by  his  works  must 
depend  very  largely  on  his  eye  for  " scale" — which 
might  be  called,  perhaps,  his  eye  for  relative  pro- 
portion. 

It  will  be  conceded  at  once  that  effects  of  light  and 
shade  must  play  an  important  part  in  the  design  of  a 
building,  and  cognate  with  it,  the  handling  of  voids 
and  solids.  Architecturally,  the  "voids"  in  a  design 
are  all  windows  and  door  openings,  loggias  or  arcades ; 
the  "solids,"  all  of  the  building  which  is  not  "void." 
Skilful  balance  of  void  and  solid  is  an  essential  in 
architectural  design,  as  will  be  apparent  in  one 's  obser- 
vation of  any  building,  studied  with  this  in  mind.  Light 
and  shade  must  also  be  skilfully  manipulated,  and  mis- 
takes most  often  occur  through  too  much  study  of  a 
building ' '  on  paper, "  as  a  composition  of  lines,  without 
sufficient  visualisation  of  the  effect  of  the  executed  work. 
Every  projection  from  the  face  of  a  building  casts  a 
definite  shadow,  and  the  effect  of  these  shadows  is  as 
much  a  part  of  the  whole  design  as  the  detail  of  a 
moulding  or  the  interpretation  of  a  classic  order. 

From  the  foregoing  observations  on  expression, 
appropriateness,  scale  and  light-and-shadow,  it  must 
be  apparent  that  the  able  architect  needs  much  mental 
equipment  in  addition  to  his  knowledge  of  historic  styles 
or  his  familiarity  with  structural  problems.  It  should 


ARCHITECTURE  27 

be  noticed,  moreover,  that  the  more  masterfully  an 
architect  handles  these  essentials  of  design  the  less 
appreciation  he  receives  from  the  lay  critic,  for  the 
reason  that  perfection  in  such  matters  as  scale,  for 
instance,  so  rests  the  eye  as  to  attract  no  attention  and 
elicit  no  praise.  The  trained  architectural  observer, 
however,  will  find  much  to  delight  him  in  his  conscious 
appreciation  of  these  niceties. 

To  proceed  further  in  a  consideration  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  architectural  design  would  be  inconsistent  with 
the  purposes  of  the  present  work,  no  matter  how  inter- 
esting in  itself,  and  a  necessarily  brief  study  will  now 
be  directed  through  the  evolution  of  those  great  historic 
styles  whose  present-day  manifestations  we  see  around 
us  on  every  hand. 


CHAPTEE  II 
THE  EVOLUTION  OF  AECHITECTUEE 

THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  GREAT  ARCHITECTURAL  STYLES. 
THE  ARCHITECTURE  OF  EGYPT,  OF  ASSYRIA,  OF  GREECE, 
OF  ROME.  BYZANTINE  AND  ROMANESQUE  ARCHITECTURE 

IN  order  to  acquire  a  practical  familiarity  with  the 
architecture  which  surrounds  us  to-day,  and  to  be 
practically  familiar  with  its  forms,  it  is  obviously  neces- 
sary to  acquire  some  general  knowledge  of  the  evolution 
of  architecture  through  the  ages  and  in  the  several 
countries  of  Europe. 

It  is  customary  and,  indeed,  quite  proper,  to  com- 
mence a  study  of  the  history  of  architecture  with  its 
beginnings  in  Egypt,  although  architectural  evolution 
has  left  no  vestige  of  actual  Egyptian  detail  in  modern 
buildings. 

The  recognisable  characteristics  of  architecture 
manifest  themselves  in  three  principal  directions:  in 
the  structural  character  of  the  building  (column  con- 
struction, arch  construction  or  otherwise) ;  in  its  gen- 
eral mass,  or  form  (tall  and  vertical,  or  low-spreading 
and  horizontal)  and  in  its  detail  (in  the  kind  of  archi- 
tectural mouldings  or  ornaments  peculiar  to  each  type 
or  nationality). 

There  are,  again,  three  broad  divisions  in  which  to 
consider  types  of  buildings :  religious,  secular  public 
and  secular  private  buildings.  It  is  essential  to  con- 
sider, instinctively,  in  which  class  a  given  building 
belongs,  because  much  of  the  confusion  which  exists  in 
the  consideration  of  architecture  arises  from  vague 
classification,  or  none  at  all.  And  classification  should 

28 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  29 

always  be  the  basis  of  comparison,  and  comparison  is 
the  royal  road  to  intelligent  and  practical  comprehen- 
sion. The  importance  of  these  broad  divisions,  which 
must  come  to  make  themselves  felt  instinctively,  will 
become  increasingly  apparent  as  study  progresses. 

Commencing  with  the  architecture  of  Egypt,  it  will 
be  realised  subsequently  what  a  complex  architectural 
fabric  wag  gradually  built  up  upon  an  essentially  simple 
foundation. 

For  the  purpose  of  this  book  the  following  history 
of  architectural  evolution  will  be  presented  in  the  most 
concise  form  possible,  with  the  intention  of  enlarging 
upon  certain  phases  of  it  in  subsequent  chapters. 

THE  ABCHITECTURE  OF  EGYPT 

The  type  of  Elgyptian  building  which  played  its  part 
in  later  architectural  evolution  was  not  the  secular 
building,  either  public  or  private,  but  the  religious 
building — in  this  case,  the  temple. 

The  Egyptian  dwelling  was,  for  the  most  part,  a 
very  modest  affair,  and  very  perishable,  both  actually 
and  stylistically.  Not  only  are  there  no  examples  pre- 
served in  the  condition  of  the  Roman  villas  of  Pompeii 
and  Herculaneum,  but  the  Egyptian  residence  appears 
to  have  had  little  if  any  influence  upon  the  later  evolu- 
tion of  the  private  house.  Some  idea  of  its  form  has 
been  preserved  in  elaborate  contemporary  wall-paint- 
ings and  bas-reliefs,  but  since  its  influence  on  architec- 
tural design  did  not  extend  beyond  the  days  of  the 
Pharaohs,  it  is  more  profitable  to  consider  the  religious, 
or  temple,  architecture  of  ancient  Egypt. 

Essentially,  Egyptian  architecture  was  a  stone 
architecture,  and  structurally  it  was  an  architecture 
based  on  the  column  and  lintel  (a  lintel  being  any 


30  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

horizontal  member  resting  upon  two  vertical  members). 

Although  the  arch  was  known  to  the  Egyptians, 
their  builders  appear  to  have  regarded  it  as  a  mean  and 
ignoble  substitute  for  the  enormous  stones  which  they 
used  to  span  the  distances  between  their  columns.  For 
the  most  part,  it  would  seem  that  the  Egyptians  gauged 
the  merit  of  their  buildings  by  the  size  of  the  stones 
which  they  employed.  Although  they  built  many  of 
their  greater  columns,  such  as  those  in  the  great  hall 
at  Karnak,  of  huge  cylindrical  drums,  they  thought 
highly  of  monolithic  columns,  hewn  from  one  piece  of 
stone.  Theirs  was  an  architecture  of  sublime  propor- 
tions, of  massive  forms  and  simple  lines. 

Their  columns  were  far  heavier  than  those  later 
developed  by  the  Greeks,  and  the  forms  of  the  capitals 
or  heads  of  the  columns,  were  inspired  by  such  local 
flora  as  palm-leaves  and  lotus  flowers. 

Egyptian  architecture  is  powerfully  illustrative  of 
the  influences  which  social  and  natural  conditions  exert 
upon  architectural  character.  Being  essentially  a  relig- 
ious country,  actually  ruled  by  the  priests,  the  principal 
form  of  building  was  the  temple,  and  being  essentially 
a  treeless  country,  the  principal  building  material  was 
stone.  The  Egyptians,  of  course,  understood  the 
manufacture  and  use  of  bricks,  but  with  their  basic 
passion  for  building  for  eternity,  their  crude  bricks 
doubtless  seemed  to  be  perishable,  and  certainly  not  so 
noble  as  their  enormous  stone  members,  so  brick  played 
no  such  part  in  Egyptian  architecture  as  it  later  played 
in  the  buildings  of  the  Assyrians. 

Indicative  of  the  Egyptian  architectural  ideal  of 
"eternity,"  there  are  the  rock-cut  temples,  hewn  from 
stone  mountain  sides,  and  the  usual  tomb,  which,  when 
not  buried  beneath  the  artificial  mountain  of  a  pyramid, 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  31 

was  cut  into  the  solid  rock  of  the  Theban  Hills.  Thus 
it  is  to  be  inferred  that  the  Egyptians  preferred  per- 
manency even  to  the  impressive  majesty  of  fine  archi- 
tecture. They  were  content  to  rest  in  a  hidden  cham- 
ber far  in  the  heart  of  the  living  rock,  rather  than  in 
an  ornate  mausoleum. 

All  Egyptian  architectural  and  monumental  re- 
mains testify  to  this  predeliction — the  Sphinx,  hewn 
from  the  solid  rock,  the  monolithic  obelisks,  the  great 
rock-cut  temple  of  Rameses  II  at  Abu-Simbel,  the 
colossal  statues  and  massive  pylons — all  these  are  char- 
acterised by  a  strength  and  immobility  which  have 
defied  the  centuries  and  the  waves  of  destructive  inva- 
sion which  have  swept  over  Egypt. 

Yet,  for  all  its  qualities  of  massive  form,  Egyptian 
architecture  was  not  sombre,  and  Egyptian  architects 
and  artists  evolved  many  decorative  forms  from  lotus, 
palm  and  papyrus  which  were  essentially  graceful  and 
delicate.  Nor  was  the  architecture  of  Egypt  by  any 
means  devoid  of  colour.  The  pictorial  bas-relief  carv- 
ings, the  inscriptions  and  decorative  details  of  the  tem- 
ples and  tombs  were  richly,  even  garishly,  painted  in 
many  and  bright  colours.  The  erosion  of  sand  and  time 
has  dimmed  these  where  they  have  been  exposed,  but 
in  the  shelter  of  many  tombs  and  rock-hewn  sanctuaries 
the  colours  are  to  be  found  as  intense  and  vivid  as 
though  they  had  but  recently  come  from  the  brush  of 
the  painter. 

The  transitional  step  from  Egyptian  to  Greek 
architecture  is  generally  given  as  existing  in  a  rock-cut 
temple  at  Beni-Hassan,  often  called  the  ' '  Proto-Doric 
Temple,"  because  the  form  of  the  columns  bears  a 
striking  similarity  to  the  Greek  Doric  column,  the  first 
pf  the  great  Greek  "orders,"  Of  the  architectural 


32   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

legacy  of  Egypt  to  Greece,  more  may  be  appreciated  in 
connection  with  the  consideration  of  Greek  archi- 
tecture. 

THE  ARCHITECTURE  OF  ASSYRIA 

The  architecture  of  ancient  Assyria  differed  quite 
distinctly  from  that  of  Egypt,  and  its  characteristics, 
like  those  of  Egyptian  architecture,  were  the  direct 
outcome  of  social  and  natural  conditions. 

Secular  architecture  was  more  prominent,  notably 
in  the  magnificent  palaces  of  the  kings,  and,  being  a 
race  less  religious  and  less  dominated  by  the  priesthood, 
temples  were  far  less  conspicuous.  And  being  a  coun- 
try devoid,  for  the  most  part,  of  building  stone  as  well 
as  timber,  but  abounding  in  clay,  Assyria  naturally 
developed  a  brick  architecture  instead  of  a  stone  archi- 
tecture. Structurally,  since  the  brick  is  a  small  struc- 
tural unit,  the  great  lintel  construction  of  the  Egyptians 
was  not  possible,  so  the  arch  was  used  considerably, 
both  in  its  true  form,  and  in  some  other  forms.  Roof- 
ing was  often  accomplished  by  the  use  of  wood,  though 
there  is  considerable  dispute  on  this  question  among 
archaeologists,  and  several  theories  maintaining  that 
textiles  were  largely  used. 

Of  Assyrian  buildings  only  the  walls  and  floors 
remain,  but  the  area  of  many  of  the  great  rooms  could 
have  been  spanned  only  by  timbers,  on  which,  perhaps, 
there  was  devised  a  covering  of  lighter  wood,  then 
thatch  and  clay. 

Most  versions  of  the  form  of  Assyrian  buildings  are 
conjectural,  though  it  is  known  with  certainty  that  the 
palaces  and  temples  were  of  vast  size,  and  were  impres- 
sively elevated  on  a  series  of  great  terraces,  approached 
by  broad  nights  of  steps.  And  whatever  particulars 
of  Assyrian  architecture  are  conjectural,  it  is  certain 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  33 

that  the  Assyrians  were  the  first  to  realise  and  develop 
the  possibilities  of  brick,  both  structurally  and  decora- 
tively.  Such  portions  of  their  important  buildings  as 
were  conspicuously  exposed  were  faced  with  glazed 
bricks  of  gorgeous  and  beautiful  colours,  or  with  tiles, 
often  forming  elaborate  and  highly  decorative  repre- 
sentations of  legendary  deities,  monsters  and  heroes. 

Subsequent  architecture  borrowed  little  from  the 
Assyrians — certainly  that  of  Greece  had  nothing  in 
common  with  it.  The  Assyrians  borrowed  but  little 
from  Egypt,  by  reason  of  the  differing  characteristics 
of  the  two  countries,  racially  and  socially,  as  well  as  in 
the  nature  of  building  materials  available. 

Architecturally,  however,  the  Assyrians  were,  with- 
out dispute,  the  pioneers  in  demonstrating  the  possi- 
bilities of  brick  as  a  building  material — a  material 
which,  ever  since,  has  been  a  distinct  factor  in  archi- 
tectural evolution  and  expression  of  other  races  in 
other  lands. 

THE  ARCHITECTURE  OF  GREECE 

Most  architectural  histories  are  enlivened  by  the 
disputes  of  archaeological  authorities  on  questions  of 
origin.  Although  many  of  these  disputes  are  of  great 
interest,  the  present  outline  sketch  of  architectural 
evolution  will  not  allow  of  such  digressions.  The  study 
of  Greek  architecture,  however,  usually  begins  with  the 
two  great  conflicting  theories  regarding  the  origin  of  its 
form.  One  contention  is  that  the  Greeks  borrowed 
their  column  and  lintel  construction,  as  well  as  the  form 
of  their  first  Doric  column,  from  Egypt.  The  other 
contention  is  that  the  Greeks,  advancing  in  skill  and 
ambition,  simply  translated  into  stone  the  forms  of 
their  own  earlier  wooden  buildings.  There  is  much  to 

3 


34   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

support  both  theories.  Undoubtedly  there  is  a  simi- 
larity between  early  Greek  architectural  forms  and 
Egyptian,  but  with  no  less  doubt  there  is  a  distinct 
analogy  in  the  Greek  temple  to  what  we  may  imagine 
was  a  similar  and  primitive  Greek  building  of  wood. 

For  the  present  it  is  more  important  to  crystallise 
a  clear  impression  of  what,  in  the  main,  constituted 
Greek  architecture,  than  to  inquire  into  its  origin. 

An  understanding  of  Greek  architecture  is  the  first 
really  important  step  in  acquiring  a  practical  under- 
standing of  the  architecture  of  the  present  day,  as  well 
as  of  many  earlier  periods.  To  understand  Greek 
architecture  is  to  understand  the  real  meaning  of  the 
several  manifestations  of  the  ''Classic  Revival,"  and 
the  frequent  architectural  allusion  to  the  "  Classic 
Ideal." 

The  importance  of  Greek  architecture  in  subsequent 
evolution  cannot  be  over-stated.  Greek  architecture  is, 
fundamentally,  the  basis  of  all  modern  architecture,  in 
that  from  it  sprang  the  architecture  of  Rome,  and  from 
that  later,  the  architecture  of  the  Renaissance,  which 
permanently  supplanted  the  Gothic  idea. 

In  Greek  architecture,  furthermore,  it  is  possible, 
for  the  first  time,  to  perceive  the  origin  of  a  multitude 
of  architectural  forms  with  which  we  are  daily  sur- 
rounded to-day — mouldings,  ornamented  motifs  and 
the  immortal  *  *  Greek  orders ' '  themselves — forms  which 
have  come  down  to  the  present  day,  while  those  of 
ancient  Egypt  and  Assyria  did  not  live  beyond  the 
confines  of  their  lands,  or  after  the  downfall  of  their 
empires. 

The  Greeks  evolved  the  "Classic Ideal"  in  architec- 
ture, an  ideal  of  such  purity  and  nobility  and  perfection 
that  it  has  constituted  the  standard  through  the  ages, 


8 


AN  EARLY  EXAMPLE  OF  THE  GREEK  DORIC  TEMPLE  (UNFINISHED) 
The  columns  here  are  heavy  and  spaced  closely  together.  The  flutings  of  the  columns, 
as  well  as  mouldings  of  pediment  and  cornice,  would  have  been  carved  "in  place," 
had  the  work  been  completed 

(Temple  at  Segesta,  Sicily) 


Hy  penniwion  nf  lirium  &  Co.,  New  York  and  Paris 

GREEK  CARYATID  FIGURES,  A  DETAIL  OF  AN  IONIC  TEMPLE 
Classic  architecture,  with   the  development  of  the   Ionic  order,  began   to  take  forms  of 

permanent  and  eternal  beauty 
(The  Caryatid  Porch  of  the  Erechtheum,  Athens) 


THE  CORINTHIAN  ORDER 
A    Roman    temple    built    at    Athens    by    a    Greek 

architect 

(Temple  of  the  Olympian  Zeus,  also  called  Jupiler 
Stater,  Athens) 


By  permission  ,,(  liruiin  A  Co.,  New  York 

A   TYPICAL   EXAMPLE  OF  ROMAN  ARCHITECTURE 

The  use  of  column  and  arch,  the  employment  of  sculpture  and  inscription 
as  an  adjunct  to  architecture — the  entire  composition  as  a  whole  is  essen- 
tially Roman 

(The  Arch  of  Constantine,  Rome) 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  35 

and  is  to-day  the  fundamental  of  architectural  design. 

Greek  architecture,  elementally,  is  a  column-and- 
lintel  architecture,  highly  developed  as  time  went  on 
from  the  severest  Doric  orders  to  the  most  ornate 
Corinthian  orders. 

The  three  orders,  Doric,  Ionic  and  Corinthian,  are 
readily  recognisable  and  easily  to  be  distinguished  ( see 
" Architectural  Terminology,  Illustrated"). 

Regardless  of  the  forms  assumed  by  Greek  archi- 
tectural elements  in  later  times,  it  is  important  to 
remember  their  origin.  Greek  forms  reappeared  in  the 
period  of  the  Renaissance,  and  again  in  the  period  of 
the  Classic  Revival  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  and  the 
same  forms  constitute  to-day  the  most  important  part 
of  our  architectural  details.  To  possess  a  clear  vision 
of  Greek  forms  is  to  simplify  the  study  of  architecture 
and  to  pave  the  way  for  a  subsequent  recognition  of 
other  forms  and  other  architectural  ideals  which  came 
into  being  during  later  periods  and  in  other  lands. 

The  most  notable  type  of  Greek  building  was  the 
temple,  although  the  private  dwellings  of  wealthy  indi- 
viduals claimed  far  more  of  the  attention  of  architects 
and  sculptors  than  was  the  case  in  Egypt. 

Greek  architecture  was  essentially  an  architecture 
of  stone,  and  its  character,  subsequently  to  the  Doric 
style,  was  marked  by  the  refined  application  of  graceful 
carving  and  co-relation  of  monumental  statuary. 

Much  of  the  eternal  excellence  of  Greek  architecture 
lies  in  the  perfection  of  its  proportions,  as  well  as  in 
the  refinement  of  its  detail,  which,  to  date,  have  not 
been  improved  upon. 

It  is  important  to  remember  that  Greek  architecture 
forms  the  inspiration  and  often  the  direct  source  of  the 


36     THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

design  of  virtually  all  the  large  public  buildings  of 
to-day.  No  style  has  been  found  better  suited  for  the 
expression  of  dignity,  stability  and  permanent  beauty 
of  form.  The  debt  of  architecture  to  the  genius  of 
ancient  Greece  can  never  be  discharged,  and  this 
becomes  increasingly  apparent  as  study  proceeds. 

Greek  temple  plans  were  of  several  kinds,  but  the 
differentiation  of  these  comes  into  the  province  of  a 
far  more  detailed  consideration  than  it  is  intended  to 
present.  Nor  can  this  kind  of  knowledge  of  Greek 
architecture  be  said  to  have  a  direct  bearing  upon  its 
more  superficial  aspects.  It  is  more  important,  in  a 
general  survey,  to  recognise  thoroughly  the  importance 
and  meaning  of  the  great  and  immortal  *  *  Classic  Ideal ' ' 
—the  purity  of  form  and  the  perfection  of  proportion 
which  were  the  essentials  of  Greek  architecture.  And 
these  basic  essentials  found  their  highest  expression 
in  the  Greek  temple. 

The  most  important  feature  of  the  Greek  private 
residence  was  its  planning  about  an  open  central  court, 
called  an  atrium — a  type  of  plan  still  adhered  to  in 
warm  countries,  and  encountered  later  in  but  slightly 
variant  forms,  notably  the  Spanish  patio. 

THE  ARCHITECTURE  OF  ROME 

The  architects  of  Rome  took  Greek  architecture 
and  elaborated  it,  introducing  in  addition,  and  highly 
developing,  the  use  of  the  arch. 

The  old  Greek  Doric  order  did  not  appeal  to  the 
sophisticated  Romans,  to  whom  it  doubtless  appeared 
too  severe  and  too  primitive.  Their  corresponding 
form  was  the  Roman  Doric  column,  also  called  Tuscan 
(see  "  Architectural  Terminology,  Illustrated ") .  They 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  37 

made  but  little  use  of  the  Ionic,  but  appropriated  and 
highly  embellished  the  Corinthian. 

Most  characteristic  of  the  Roman  development  of 
architecture  was  the  combined  use  of  column  and  arch, 
later  a  favourite  theme  for  the  architects  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance. 

Roman  carving  and  ornamentation  was  rarely  so 
refined  or  pure  as  similar  work  of  the  Greeks,  but  was 
usually  more  decorative.  The  Romans  were  lovers  of 
inscriptions,  and,  in  their  architecture,  began  to  pay 
more  attention  to  secular  buildings,  both  public  and 
private,  than  had  previously  been  accorded  them.  Pub- 
lic works,  such  as  aqueducts  and  bridges,  became  archi- 
tectural monuments,  as  well  as  theatres,  baths,  and 
triumphal  arches,  while  the  private  residences,  or  villas, 
became  luxurious  and  elaborate  to  a  degree,  and  were 
filled  with  paintings,  statuary,  bronzes  and  other  works 
of  art,  including  Greek  antiquities. 

Architecture  was  fast  coming  into  a  closer  relation- 
ship with  the  people,  ceasing  to  occupy  its  earlier  posi- 
tion of  exclusive  consecration  to  the  gods. 

There  were  Roman  temples,  to  be  sure,  but  there 
were  an  even  greater  number  of  Roman  secular  build- 
ings which  have  played  as  important  a  part  in  the  subse- 
quent development  of  architecture  as  the  earlier  monu- 
ments of  Greece. 

It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  architec- 
ture of  Greece  preceded  and  inspired  the  architecture 
of  Rome,  so  that  virtually  all  Roman  forms  were,  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  derivations  from  Greek  forms. 
It  will  be  important  to  remember,  later,  that  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  architecture  of  the  Italian  Renaissance 
came  from  Roman,  not  Grecian,  remains,  and  that  the 
Romans  secularised  the  temple  architecture  of  Greece. 


38   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

BYZANTINE  AND  ROMANESQUE  ARCHITECTURE 

Before  the  final  downfall  and  dismemberment  of 
the  Roman  Empire  in  the  year  455  of  the  Christian 
Era,  with  all  the  elaborate  civilisation  it  had  developed, 
there  grew  up  two  types  of  church  architecture  which 
struggled  on  through  the  Dark  Ages,  sustained  by  the 
warmth  of  religious  enthusiasm,  and,  in  their  way, 
keeping  the  lamp  of  architecture  burning  until  times 
more  propitious  for  its  further  development. 

These  two  styles  are  known  as  Byzantine  and 
Romanesque — the  first  of  which,  reaching  a  high 
development  in  itself,  led  to  nothing  else,  and  the  second 
of  which,  by  reason  of  its  vital  structural  merits,  grew 
directly  into  the  great  Gothic  style,  which  was  to  com- 
pletely fill  the  architectural  stage  until  the  coming  of 
the  Renaissance  in  Italy  in  the  year  1400. 

At  this  point  in  architectural  history  it  may  be 
illuminating  to  tabulate  a  few  dates  for  reference  in 
following  the  course  of  architectural  development  from 
the  fall  of  Rome  to  the  end  of  the  Renaissance  in  Italy : 

CHRONOLOGY 

End  of  the  Roman  Empire,  455  A.D. 

Early  Christian  Period,  from  Emperor  Constantine 
of  Byzantium  to  Gregory  I,  Bishop  of  Rome,  300-604  A.D. 

In  the  Byzantine  Empire  (the  eastern  division  of 
the  Roman  Empire),  Emperor  Constantine  changed  the 
name  of  Byzantium  to  Constantinople  ("City  of  Con- 
stantine"), and  adopted  Christianity  in  338  A.D. 

In  527  A.D.  the  Byzantine  Emperor  Justinian  began 
a  twenty-year  war,  which  finally  drove  the  Goths  and 
Huns  from  Italy,  and  strengthened  the  Eastern  Empire 
of  Rome.  In  751  A.D.  Rome  became  independent,  in  the 
form  of  the  first  Papal  States.  At  this  time  the  Italian 


THE   MOST   IMPORTANT   MONUMENT  OF   BYZANTINE  ARCHITECTURE 
The  use  of  arches  and  short  columns  is  essentially  Byzantine,  a.s  also  the  rich  decorations 

in  fresco  and  mosaic 
(The  Cathedral  of  St.  Mark,  Venice) 


DETAIL  OK   A    ROMANESQUE   ARCADE 

Architecture  enriched  with  a  Byzantine  treatment  of  mosaic.      The  carvinic  and  the  diversity 
of  the  columns  also  show  marked  Byzantine  characteristics 
(Cloister  arches  of  St.  Paul-Beyond-t  he- Walls,  Rome) 


CHARACTERISTIC  EXAMPLES  OF  BYZANTINE  COLUMNS,  CAPITALS  AND 
DECORATIVE  CARVING 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  39 

Lombards  conquered  the  greater  part  of  the  Byzantine 
Empire. 

The  Byzantine  Empire  finally  fell  at  the  hands  of 
Mohammed  II,  and  Constantinople  became  the  Moslem 
capital  in  1453,  half  a  century  after  the  beginning  of  the 
period  of  the  Renaissance  in  Italy. 

From  900  to  1200  Italy  was  to  some  extent  the  battle- 
field of  ambitious  European  nations,  suffering  many 
invasions  and  constant  unrest. 

From  1200  to  1400  such  Italian  cities  as  Venice, 
Genoa,  and  Florence  grew  steadily  in  prosperity  and 
power,  mostly  through  commerce. 

There  was  no  national  Italian  government  at  this 
time,  the  balance  of  power  being  diplomatically 
adjusted  by  five  united  parts :  the  Duchy  of  Milan,  the 
two  nominal  "republics"  of  Venice,  the  Papal  States 
(centred  at  Rome)  and  the  Kingdom  of  Naples. 

The  dates  of  the  great  periods  of  the  Italian  Renais- 
sance are  given  as  follows : 

Early  Renaissance,  Florentine. . . .  1400-1600 

Milanese 1400-1600 

Venetian 1490-1600 

Roman 1444-1643 

High  Renaissance 1500-1540 

Late  Renaissance 1540-1643 

The  years  and  periods  covered  by  the  foregoing 
dates,  from  the  fall  of  Rome  to  the  close  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance,  saw  greater  developments  in  architecture 
than  any  subsequent  span  of  time.  Great  as  were  these 
developments,  however,  it  is  necessary  here  to  deal  with 
them  in  the  briefest  possible  manner,  pointing  out  such 
salient  points  as  will  later  prove  an  aid  in  distinguish- 
ing the  architectural  derivations  of  to-day. 


40   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

Byzantine  and  Romanesque  architecture  flourished 
at  about  the  same  time,  and  were  preceded  by  what  is 
known  as  "Early  Christian"  architecture  in  Rome. 
As  the  Christians,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
Era,  were  neither  rich  nor  powerful,  their  architectural 
efforts  were,  of  necessity,  restricted. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  idea  of  a  "temple,"  or 
abode  of  deity,  gave  place  to  the  idea  of  a  "church," 
or  place  of  worship  for  the  devout.  The  temple,  while 
a  shrine,  had  been  regarded  more  as  a  divine  abode. 
The  people  came  to  offer  prayer  to  their  god  in  the 
temple.  In  the  church,  the  devout  assembled  to  make 
prayer,  and  an  Invisible  God  came  to  them. 

Gradually  the  architectural  efforts  of  the  early 
Christians  began  to  assume  certain  definite  forms: 
"Romanesque"  in  Italy  proper,  or  the  "Western 
Empire  of  Rome,"  and  "Byzantine"  in  Byzantium 
(Constantinople),  the  "Eastern  Empire  of  Rome." 

Byzantine  architecture  was  at  its  height  under  the 
Emperor  Constantine,  when  he  removed  the  capital 
from  Rome  to  Constantinople,  and  the  term  covers  not 
only  the  buildings  actually  erected  in  the  Byzantine 
Empire  at  this  time,  but  several  important  contem- 
porary buildings  in  Italy. 

Most  notable  of  all  Byzantine  architectural  monu- 
ments is  the  Church  of  St.  Mark,  in  Venice.  It  was 
largely  built  from  1061-1071  A.D.,  with  additions  of 
columns  and  marble  mosaics,  between  1100-1350. 

The  second  great  monument  of  Byzantine  architec- 
ture is  the  Church  of  Ste.  Sophia,  in  Constantinople, 
so  long  now  a  Mohammedan  Mosque.  Ste.  Sophia  is 
of  earlier  date  than  St.  Mark,  having  been  built  by  the 
Byzantine  Emperor  Justinian  in  532-537  A.D. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE     41 

Both  buildings,  however,  illustrate  the  most  salient 
characteristics  of  Byzantine  architecture. 

The  principal  structural  difference  between  Byzan- 
tine and  Romanesque  architecture  is  that  the  first  devel- 
oped the  dome,  while  the  second  developed  the  vault. 
Byzantine  architecture  stopped  at  the  dome — Roman- 
esque architecture  grew  into  the  elaborate  vaulting 
systems  of  the  Gothic  style. 

The  architectural  "orders"  of  the  Romans  gave 
place  to  different  forms  in  works  of  the  Byzantine 
builders.  Byzantine  buildings  were  mostly  of  brick, 
embellished  with  mosaic,  and  depending  for  large  effect 
on  the  dome ;  for  detailed  effect  on  colour.  Arches  were 
used  structurally,  springing  from  a  different  sort  of 
column  than  those  of  the  Greeks  or  Romans.  The 
Byzantine  column  was  usually  short,  and  often  placed 
in  pairs,  and  the  capitals  were  basket-shaped,  effecting 
a  transition  from  the  arch  to  the  cylindrical  shaft  of 
the  column.  These  capitals  were  intricately  carved, 
in  a  richly  decorative  manner,  with  conventional  folia- 
tion or  grotesque  heads  and  animal  forms. 

In  place  of  the  mouldings  and  carvings  of  the  Classic 
architects,  the  exteriors  of  Byzantine  churches  were 
diversified  by  horizontal  bands  of  vari-coloured  brick, 
as  well  as  by  the  interest  afforded  by  successive 
recessed  arches. 

Statuary  formed  no  feature  of  this  architecture, 
since  the  early  Christians  allowed  nothing  so  reminis- 
cent of  pagan  religions  and  pagan  deities,  or  "idols" 
to  be  a  part  of  their  creed. 

The  art  of  mosaic  work,  both  in  coloured  marbles 
and  mosaic  glass,  reached  its  height  in  Byzantine 
architecture. 

Church  plans  were  usually  in  the  form  of  a  Greek 


42   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

cross,  with  the  dome  covering  the  central  part.  In 
comparison  with  Romanesque  and,  later,  Gothic  church 
plans,  those  of  the  Byzantine  churches  were  square  and 
compact. 

The  dome,  essentially  an  Eastern,  or  Asiatic  form, 
has  naturally  come  to  be  regarded  as  characteristic  of 
Saracenic  or  Moorish  architecture,  with  which,  indeed, 
Byzantine  has  much  in  common. 

Romanesque  architecture  was  practised  not  only  in 
churches  erected  in  Italy,  but  spread  through  France 
and  Germany  as  well.  In  certain  details  it  was  in- 
fluenced to  a  considerable  extent  by  Byzantine  feeling, 
while  structurally  it  was  essentially  different. 

Instead  of  the  dome  construction  of  the  Byzantine 
architects,  the  Romanesque  church  builders  addressed 
all  their  efforts  to  the  development  of  the  vault  as  a 
method  of  roofing — their  efforts  culminating  in  the 
Gothic  style  of  the  Thirteenth  Century. 

The  Romanesque  church  plan  assumed  much  of  the 
character  of  the  later  church  and  cathedral  plans,  con- 
sisting of  a  long  central  nave,  flanked  by  narrower 
side-aisles,  the  nave  terminating  in  the  sanctuary  and 
altar — the  apse  of  the  later  cathedral  plan.  In  order 
to  support  the  heavy  tile  roof  of  the  Romanesque 
church,  it  was  necessary  to  develop  masonry  vaulting 
to  a  degree  never  before  attempted,  and ' '  rib-vaulting, ' ' 
the  basis  of  Gothic  architecture,  was  evolved. 

By  way  of  definition,  a  plain  vault,  or  "barrel" 
vault,  is  nothing  more  than  a  continuous  arch — a  roof- 
ing in  the  form  of  an  inverted  half -cylinder,  supporting 
its  own  weight,  as  well  as  any  superincumbent  weight, 
on  the  principle  of  the  arch  (Fig.  1). 

When  two  plain  vaults  intersect   (Fig.   2),  their 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE 


43 


self-sustaining  or  supporting  power  is  not  impaired, 
and  a  new  line  is  formed  by  the  intersection  ("AB," 
Fig.  2).  This  intersection  is  known  as  the  "groin" 
of  the  vault,  and  the  building  of  intersecting  vaults  was 
practised  extensively  by  the  Eomans. 

The  later  Eomanesque  builders,  however,  went  a 
step  further.  They  discovered  that  the  only  struct- 
urally essential  members  of  the  intersecting  vaults 
were  the  groins,  or  stones  forming  the  intersection. 
These,  they  found,  would  stand  alone,  independently 


1  FIQUEE  2. 

F1GURI3 

VAULT  -  GROIN  VAULT  -  -  -,/INGII  JUB  VA17LF 
of  the  rest  of  the  vault,  so  that  lighter  stones  or  brick 
might  be  used  to  fill  in. 

It  is  easy  to  see  how  this  discovery  led  to  the 
development  of  "rib-vaulting"  (Fig.  3),  in  which  the 
bones  of  the  construction,  so  to  speak,  were  the  groins 
of  intersecting  vaults — the  vaults  themselves  becoming 
of  secondary  significance  and  of  importance  chiefly  to 
effect  a  symmetrical  and  "finished"  interior. 

On  this  evolution  of  Romanesque  architecture,  the 
discovery  of  the  structural  sufficiency  of  vaulting  ribs, 
rests  the  whole  principle  of  Gothic  architecture,  for  the 
intersection  of  vaults  varying  in  height  naturally 
brought  about  the  discovery  of  the  pointed  arch. 

About  these  two  structural  facts  the  genius  of 


44   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

Gothic  architecture  wove  an  intricate  fantasy  of  forms 
and  details,  differing  one  from  another  in  the  same 
building,  and  with  varying  interpretation  in  the  several 
countries  of  Europe  where  Gothic  architecture  took 
root. 

SUMMARY 
EGYPTIAN  ARCHITECTURE 

Types  of  Building:    Temples,  Pyramid  tombs,  rock-cut  tombs  and  rock- 
cut  temples.     Private  dwellings  of  perishable  and  impermanent  sort. 

Construction:     Column  and  lintel,  columns  either  of  one  colossal  stone, 
or  built  of  drums  or  blocks. 

Materials :   Stone ;  brick  was  known,  but  little  used. 

Detail:   Carved. — In  low  incised  relief,  usually  highly  coloured. 

Surface  decoration. — Stucco  was  often  used,  as  it  formed  a  satis- 
factory ground  for  painting. 

Motifs. — Conventionalised  renderings  of  Deities,  scenes  from 
royal  and  private  life,  hieroglyphic  inscriptions  and  decorative 
forms  based  chiefly  on  the  lotus  and  the  papyrus. 

ASSYRIAN  ABCHITECTUBE 

Types  of  Building:  Temples  and  palaces. 

Construction:     Brick-built  walls,  occasional  use  of  the  arch,  though 

seldom  as  a  structural  aid.     Methods  of  roofing  buildings  largely 

conjectural. 

Materials:   Brick  and  tile. 
Detail:     Carved  detail. — Use  of  carved  bas  relief  in  isolated  instances. 

Stone  was  scarce,  and  used  sparingly. 

Surface  decoration. — The  Assyrians  were  the  first  to  demonstrate 

the  great  decorative  possibilities  of  glazed  tiles  and  glazed  brick. 
Motifs. — Conventionalised    renderings    of    Deities,    scenes    from 

decorative  forms. 

GREEK  ARCHITECTURE 

Types  of  Building:   Temples,  open-air  theatres,  mausoleums  and  private 

residences. 
Construction:    Column  and   lintel.     Roofs  usually  of   slabs   of   stone. 

Column  and  lintel  construction  carried  to  the  point  of  perfection. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  45 

Material:     Stone,  usually  native  marble. 

Detail:  Carved. — Bas  relief  (low  relief)  figures,  architectural  statuary, 
both  detached  and  in  pediments,  etc.  Capitals  of  columns  carved  in 
the  forms  of  the  orders.  Mouldings,  both  plain  and  carved,  were 
carried  to  a  point  of  perfection. 

Surface  decoration. — Many  temples  were  made  gorgeous  by  col- 
oured decoration.  Stucco  was  little  favoured. 

Motifs. — Deities,  myths  and  heroic  figures.  Decorative  plant 
forms  highly  conventionalised.  Evolution  of  "  Greek  Fret,"  or 
"  Key  "  ornament,  "  egg-and-dart  "  and  other  Classic  motifs. 

ROMAN  ARCHITECTURE 

Types  of  Building:  Temples,  theatres,  amphitheatres,  baths,  palaces, 
legislative  buildings,  mausoleums,  private  residences  and  villas, 
bridges,  aqueducts  and  viaducts. 

Construction :  General  use  of  the  arch,  often  with  non-structural  ac- 
companiment of  the  columns.  Some  reversion  to  Greek  column  and 
lintel  construction. 

Materials:  Stone  and  brick.  Ornamental  marbles  became  popular,  and 
bronze  was  frequently  used  for  the  fashioning  of  architectural 
embellishments. 

Detail:  Carved. — Greek  architectural  forms  largely  used  and  exten- 
sively modified.  Decorative  inscriptions  much  in  favour.  Architec- 
tural sculpture  in  high  relief,  and  many  detached  statues. 

Surface  decoration. — Fresco  painting  came  into  conspicuous  use, 
especially  for  the  decoration  of  private  villas,  as  found  at  Pompeii 
and  elsewhere. 

Motifs. — Deities,  myths,  personal  exploits  of  generals  and  em- 
perors. Essentials  of  the  decorative  art  of  Greece  generally 
apparent. 

BYZANTINE  ARCHITECTURE. 

Types  of  Building:     Early  Christian  churches,  or  basilicas,  mausoleums. 

Construction:  Usually  domical;  a  great  dome  springing  from  the  walls. 
Arches  used  extensively. 

Materials:  Stone,  brick,  tiles,  mosaics. 

Detail:  Carved. — Crude  but  decorative  forms,  many  of  them  fore- 
runners of  later  Gothic  forms.  Foliated  column  capitals.  Twisted 
columns.  All  columns  short  and  usually  in  pairs  or  fours. 


46   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

Surface  decoration. — A  little  crude  fresco  painting.  The  glory  of 
Byzantine  architecture  was  its  rich  mosaic  work. 

Motifs. — Most  forms  purely  decorative.  Attempts  at  human, 
animal  or  plant  forme  mostly  primitive  and  unskilled. 


ROMANESQUE  AECHITECTUBE 

Types  of  Building:     Early  Christian  churches. 

Construction:  Roofs  either  supported  on  heavy  timber  trusses,  or  on 
intersecting  vaults.  Romanesque  intersecting  vaults  the  origin  of 
the  Gothic  rib-vaulted  construction.  Arches  used  extensively. 

Material:  Brick,  preeminently. 

Detail:  Carved. — Most  Romanesque  detail  is  found  in  foliated  column 
capitals  and  in  decorative  treatment  of  the  faces  of  successive  re- 
cessed arches. 

Surface  decoration.— Ornamental  brick -work. 
Motifs. — Decorative,  conventionalised  plant  forms. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE    EVOLUTION    OF    AECHITECTUBE 

(Continued) 

GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  AND  RENAISSANCE  ARCHITECTURE. 
A  STUDY  OF  THE  DIFFERING  EXPRESSIONS  OF  THESE  TWO 
GREAT  STYLES  IN  ITALY,  FRANCE,  SPAIN,  BELGIUM, 
ENGLAND,  AND  GERMANY 

TO  dismiss  in  a  few  paragraphs  a  subject  so  ex- 
tensive, so  diversified,  so  elaborate  and  so  rich 
in  interest,  is  at  once  a  task  and  a  necessity.  It  is 
to  be  said,  however,  that  many  of  the  "literary,"  or 
symbolic,  qualities  of  Gothic  architecture  which  must 
be  passed  over  in  this  chapter  will  find  opportunity  for 
mention  in  the  fifth  chapter. 

Gothic  architecture  is  remarkable  in  that  it  is  dually 
a  structural  architecture  and  a  decorative  architecture, 
with  both  of  these  essential  aspects  existent  in  equal 
proportions.  The  most  important  single  thing  to 
remember  in  considering  Gothic  architecture  is  that  it 
may  be  closely  likened  to  an  organic  growth.  Its 
development  was  as  natural  and  as  consistent  as  the 
growth  of  a  tree,  rising  up,  putting  forth  branches, 
and  these,  in  turn,  putting  forth  leaves. 

In  a  few  paragraphs,  let  us  endeavour  to  summarise 
the  evolution  of  the  Gothic  church  or  cathedral,  from 
its  beginning  in  the  vaulting  achievements  of  the  late 
Romanesque  builders. 

The  typical  plan  took  the  form  of  a  great  cross, 
with  three  short  arms  and  one  long  arm.  The  entrance 
w^as  at  the  end  of  the  long  arm,  and  gave  directly  into 
the  great  central  nave,  flanked  by  side-aisles.  The 
arms  of  the  cross  formed  the  transept,  and  a  great 


48      THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

tower  rose  at  its  intersection  with  the  nave,  or  there 
were  twin  towers  rising  above  the  entrance  front.  The 
remaining  arm  of  the  cross  was  the  apse,  or  sanctuary. 
There  were  other  types  of  plan,  but  the  cross  was 
the  most  usual. 

Architecturally,  the  plan  was  carried  out  with  an 
intricate  diversity  of  which  only  Gothic  architecture 
could  be  capable.  The  walls  of  the  nave,  above  the 
lower  side-aisles,  were  carried  on  columns  and  pointed 
arches;  the  side-aisles,  also  arched  and  vaulted,  were 
supported,  outside,  by  buttresses  to  take  the  lateral 
thrust.  Above  these,  on  the  exterior,  rose  flying  but- 
tresses to  take  the  thrust  of  the  nave  arches,  and  every- 
where there  was  opportunity  for  pinnacles,  turrets, 
grotesques,  gargoyles,  niches  with  images  of  saints, 
and  all  the  profusion  of  Gothic  detail.  Within,  the 
building  was  lofty  and  mysterious,  richly  and  dimly 
lighted  by  tall,  pointed  windows  fitted  with  stained 
glass— perhaps  a  magnificent  rose  window  at  the  near 
end  of  the  nave.  Everywhere,  too,  carved  niches  and 
holy  images,  intricate  carving,  dull  colour  in  poly- 
chrome or  textiles. 

Gothic  architecture  is  often  nicknamed  ''perpen- 
dicular architecture, ' '  which  is  reasonably  descriptive, 
inasmuch  as  the  horizontal  entablature,  with  its  frieze 
and  cornice,  forms  no  part  of  the  Gothic  idea,  wherein 
all  members  mount  ever  upward,  climbing  one  upon  the 
other  in  one  magnificent  expression  of  altitude.  Col- 
umns, arches,  vaults,  windows,  pinnacles,  buttresses, 
towers — all  point  upward — even  the  details  of  tracery 
and  the  niches  for  images  point  upward. 

It  is  this  sense  of  upward  motion,  reaching  often  to 
the  height  of  the  sublime,  which  has  made  Gothic  archi- 
tecture essentially  the  architecture  of  the  church,  ren- 


i( 


PhotogtupU  by  Levy 

A  TYPICAL  GOTHIC  CATHEDRAL 

This  side  view  shows  the  Gothic  system  of  buttress  and  flying  buttress,  as  well  as  the  fleche, 

or  small  spire,  at  the  intersection  of  nave  and  transept 

(Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  Paris) 


A  TYPICAL  GOTHIC  DETAIL 

The  "upward  motion"  of  the  composition  ischaracteristic.  The  flame-like  leaf  carvings  are 
in  the  "flamboyant"  vein,  and  there  is  also  to  be  seen  the  typical  Gothic  introduction  of 
grotesque  heads  and  animal  forms 


49 

dering,  as  it  does,  a  remarkable  expression  of  spiritual 
nobility  in  architectural  terms.  This  aspect  of  Gothic 
architecture  will  be  dealt  with  in  another  chapter. 

Some  details  of  Gothic  architecture  were  the  natural 
outgrowth  of  its  structural  development,  others  were 
the  outgrowth  of  sheer  fantasy  and  sculptural  imag- 
ination on  the  part  of  the  builders.  Structurally,  the 
springing  of  many  arches  from  one  point  of  support 
developed  new  forms  for  columns  and  capitals — the 
shaft  often  a  group  of  clustered  columns,  the  capital 
designed  for  each  varying  condition,  to  accommodate 
the  arches  which  were  to  spring  from  it.  Tall,  pointed 
windows  were  the  obvious  complement  of  tall,  pointed 
arches. 

Any  arch  construction  must  physically  provide  for 
the  "thrust"  of  the  arch,  which  takes  the  form  of  an 
outward  and  downward  force,  composed  of  the  forces 
of  weight  in  the  materials  and  thrust  from  the  arch 
itself.  Arches  in  sequence  naturally  neutralise  their 
respective  thrusts,  so  that  there  is  only  superincumbent 
weight  to  be  reckoned  with,  but  the  arch  which  abuts 
against  a  wall  necessarily  exerts  a  pressure  against 
that  wall  which  would  tend  to  force  it  outward.  To 
meet  this  force,  the  Gothic  builders  devised  the  exterior 
buttress,  heavily  built  of  stone,  and  slanting  outward 
toward  the  ground,  in  exactly  the  same  manner  and  for 
the  same  reason  that  one  would  brace  a  heavy  piece  of 
timber  against  a  barn  which  stood  in  danger  of 
collapsing. 

The  wall  buttresses  took  care  of  the  lateral  thrusts 
of  the  arches  vaulting  the  side  aisles,  but  the  higher 
arches,  vaulting  the  central  nave,  called  for  additional 
buttresses.  These,  resting  on  the  lower  buttresses  and 
giving  them  additional  stability,  were  in  turn  weighted 

4 


50   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

down  with  pinnacles  of  stone.  To  save  unnecessary 
weight  in  themselves,  these  "flying  buttresses*'  were 
simply  skeleton  braces  of  masonry,  artfully  devised  to 
exactly  counteract,  by  their  weight  and  direction,  the 
thrusts  of  the  lateral  arches  of  the  nave  within. 

Gothic  fantasy  evolved  the  intricate  tracery,  the 
elaborate  canopies  of  stone,  seemingly  light  as  textile, 
and,  most  characteristic  and  most  fantastic  of  all, 
Gothic  architecture  evolved  the  grotesque.  The  gro- 
tesque is  not  to  be  confused  with  the  gargoyle,  or  taken 
as  synonymous  with  it.  The  gargoyles  were  all  gro- 
tesques, but  grotesques  were  not  all  gargoyles.  Strictly 
speaking,  the  gargoyle  was  a  stone  water-spout,  pro- 
jecting some  distance  beyond  the  wall  of  the  edifice, 
and  designed  to  drain  the  roofs  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  water  would  not  run  down  the  sides  of  the  masonry 
and  into  the  joints. 

Grotesques  in  Gothic  architecture  are  legion,  and 
are  generally  taken  as  one  of  its  most  quaint  and  unex- 
pected charms.  Human  forms  and  faces,  animals,  birds 
and  reptiles,  as  well  as  purely  imaginary  demons, 
dragons  and  griffons  (these  last  three  called  "chi- 
meras") were  handled  in  grotesque  technique  and  in- 
troduced in  countless  ways.  Entangled  in  the  stone 
traceries,  or  in  the  intricate  carvings  of  a  capital, 
strange  faces  leered  forth,  sometimes  sinister,  some- 
times jovial.  Contorted  animals  writhed  in  stone,  or, 
seemingly  escaped  from  the  carved  details,  peered 
strangely  over  the  parapets,  far  above  the  mediaeval 
city  which  lay  below  the  cathedral. 

Sonic  of  the  most  notable,  as  well  as  the  most  weird 
and  bizarre,  grotesques  of  Gothic  architecture — gar- 
goyles, as  well  as  animals  and  chimeras  in  stone — 


Photograph  by  Xeurdein  &  Cie 

"Chimeras, "  or  grotesques,  carved  in  the  stones  of  the  parapet 


Photograph  by  Neurdein  &  Cie 

Grotesque  gargoyles,  or  water-spouts,  carved  in  stone 

FANTASIES  OF  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

(Details  from  the  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  Paris) 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  51 

disport  themselves  on  the  parapets  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Notre  Dame  de  Paris — creatures  far  removed  from  any 
conceivable  religious  concept,  unless  they  were  devised 
to  depict  evil  spirits,  exorcised  by  the  priests  in  the 
church  below,  and  condemned  to  remain  transfixed  in 
stone  forever,  high  up  on  the  parapets  of  the  roof,  in 
all  winds  and  weathers.  Indeed  creatures  of  a  mediaeval 
nightmare,  the  chimeras  of  the  Notre  Dame  epitomise 
fully  that  important  phase  of  Gothic  architecture  which 
is  fantastic,  unknowable,  unexplainable  and  apparently 
more  in  the  realm  of  demonology  than  theology. 

A  quotation  from  Fletcher's  " History  of  Archi- 
tecture ' '  might  be  regarded  as  an  interesting  and  pict- 
uresque conclusion:  "In  the  thirteenth,  fourteenth 
and  fifteenth  centuries  the  Gothic  masons  carried  to  the 
utmost  the  use  of  stone  as  a  building  material,  heaping 
it  up  in  towers  that  rose  on  open  archways  through  the 
lofty  roofs  of  the  naves  and  transepts,  and  tapered 
away  in  shell-like  spires  embroidered  in  all  the  fret- 
work of  lace-like  tracery.  They  hung  it  aloft  in  ponder- 
ous vaults  treated  by  art  to  seem  the  gossamer  web  of 
nature,  scarce  capable  of  bearing  the  stalactite  pen- 
dants in  which  the  fancy  of  the  fifteenth  century  found 
its  expression,  and  eventually  pushing  their  practice  to 
the  furthest  boundaries,  they  cut  the  granular  stone 
to  the  thinnest  of  fibrous  wood  or  iron,  and  revelled 
in  tricks  of  construction  and  marvels  of  workmanship. ' ' 

It  remains,  before  considering  the  architecture  of 
the  Renaissance,  in  Italy  and  more  Northern  Europe,  to 
mention  paragraphically  the  more  important  types  of 
Gothic  architecture  which  became  characteristic  of 
England,  France,  Germany,  Belgium,  Holland,  Italy 
and  Spain. 


52   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

In  England  the  fullest  development  of  Gothic  archi- 
tecture was  preceded  by  a  style  generally  called 
Norman  or  Norman  Gothic.  Strictly  speaking,  this 
Norman  architecture,  brought  to  England  by  the  Nor- 
man conquerers,  was  an  offshoot  of  Byzantine  and 
Komanesque,  especially  in  its  decorative  details,  and  is 
not  accepted  as  a  Gothic  style  by  some  authorities. 

In  mass  the  Norman  churches  were  heavy  and  splen- 
didly expressive  of  stability  and  strength,  often  as 
much  like  fortresses  as  places  of  worship.  The  square 
tower,  without  a  spire,  was  characteristic,  arches  were 
round,  not  pointed,  and  there  was  none  of  the  profusion 
of  tracery  and  carving  of  later  English  Gothic.  One 
of  the  most  familiar  Norman  cathedrals  of  England  is 
Durham,  rising  majestically  up  above  the  river.  There 
are  many  earlier  Norman  buildings  in  England,  many 
castles  and  monasteries,  but  it  is  safe  to  regard  the 
Cathedral  of  Durham  as  typical  of  the  style. 

The  greatest  difficulty  in  attempting  a  brief  survey 
of  Gothic  churches  and  cathedrals  is  met  with  in  the 
fact  that  few,  by  reason  of  many  and  involved  changes 
and  additions  over  periods  of  years,  reveal  the  plan 
or  intention  of  the  original  builders,  or  any  phase  of 
Gothic  architecture  characteristic  of  any  one  time. 
Generalities,  therefore,  are  necessary  in  the  present 
survey. 

Following  the  Norman  churches  of  England  came 
the  style  known  as  "Early  English"  in  which  the 
pointed  arch  and  fully  developed  Gothic  rib-vaulting 
became  a  permanent  part  of  the  structural  character 
(Thirteenth  Century).  The  next  development  was 
"Decorated  Gothic"  (Fourteenth  Century)  in  which 
the  system  of  rib-vaulting  became  more  elaborate  and 
in  which  decorative  detail  began  to  play  a  greater  part. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  53 

Of  the  "  decorated "  style,  Westminster  Abbey,  in  Lon- 
don, is  regarded  as  a  good  example,  disregarding  its 
earlier  and  later  portions.  The  Fifteenth  Century 
development  of  the  Gothic  architecture  in  England  is 
generally  called  the  "Perpendicular"  style. 

Among  vaulting  developments  of  this  phase  of 
English  Gothic  architecture,  a  notable  one  was  the 
"fan-vaulting"  in  which  a  great  number  of  vault-ribs, 
springing  upward  and  outward  from  each  column,  like 
the  ribs  of  a  fan,  met  similar  groups  of  diverging  ribs 
from  other  columns,  forming  a  vault  of  remarkable 
richness  and  diversity.  The  builders  also  discovered 
that  pendent  masses  of  stone  could  be  hung  from  the 
centres  of  these  vaults,  and,  carefully  jointed  to  stay 
in  place,  could  be  carved  in  the  form  of  delicate  drop- 
ornaments.  This,  perhaps,  may  be  reckoned  the  high- 
est and  most  brilliant  development  of  stonemasonry 
the  world  has  ever  seen.  Fan- vaulting  is  found  only  in 
English  buildings,  while  the  carved  pendent  from  the 
centres  of  vaults  appears  in  some  French  Gothic 
structures. 

A  distinctly  English  Gothic  form,  and  a  conspicuous 
characteristic  of  the  secular  and  domestic  architecture 
of  the  Tudor  period,  was  the  flat-pointed  arch,  usually 
called  the  "Tudor  Arch,"  and  by  draughtsmen,  the 
"five-centred  arch." 

Certain  other  mediaeval  English  architectural  devel- 
opments are  of  importance  in  anticipation  of  later  study 
of  English  country  houses  and  modern  derivations. 

Previously  to  the  Tudor  period  important  dwell- 
ings were,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  nature  of  castles, 
built  with  thought  of  siege  and  defense  in  view  of  the 
unsettled  conditions  of  government  and  society.  While 
the  English  country  house  first  began  to  assume  its 


54   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

peculiarly  charming  form  in  Elizabethan  times,  in  the 
dawn  of  the  English  Renaissance,  it  had  its  inception 
in  Tudor  times. 

The  great  common  hall,  where  the  lord  and  his 
retainers  ate  and  drank,  was  the  most  important  feature 
of  the  earlier  medieval  English  castles  and  moated 
manor-houses,  but  these  gradually  gave  way  to  the 
desire  for  greater  privacy.  The  "great  hall,"  a  sur- 
vival of  the  feudal  system,  remained  for  some  time 
a  part  of  the  English  country  house,  even  after  its  func- 
tion as  the  assembly  room  and  eating  room  of  the  family 
and  retainers  had  ceased.  These  large  rooms  were 
usually  roofed  by  means  of  various  forms  of  sturdy 
oak  trusses,  often  carved;  the  walls  were  hung  with 
tapestries,  trophies  of  the  chase  and  armour ;  the  floors 
were  strewn  with  rushes,  and  the  head  of  the  house  sat 
at  meals  on  a  raised  dais  at  one  end,  overlooking  all 
those  of  humbler  estate  who  sat  below. 

When  the  increasing  power  of  the  king  made  family 
wars  among  the  barons  of  less  frequent  occurrence,  and 
the  invention  of  gun-powder  made  the  moat  and  other 
defenses  of  most  fortified  manors  practically  useless, 
methods  of  planning  and  construction  changed.  In 
plan,  the  Sixteenth  Century,  or  Tudor  house  was  built 
about  a  square  court,  often  in  the  form  of  several  semi- 
detached buildings.  The  entrance  to  the  court  was 
through  a  massive,'  tunnel-like  arched  drive-way, 
usually  under  a  low  tower  or  gate  house.  The  manor 
Compton  Wynyates  is  typical  of  this  pre-Elizabethan 
form  of  English  country  house. 

The  architectural  style  called  "Tudor"  is  to  be 
applied  to  buildings  under  the  reigns  of  Henry  VII, 
Henry  VIII,  Edward  VI,  and  Mary.  It  was  a  transi- 
tional period,  in  which  Gothic  habits  of  design  were 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  55 

being  gradually  superseded  by  innovations  of  Italian 
Renaissance  origin.  Following  the  Tudor  style  came 
the  Elizabethan  and  Jacobean  styles,  both  to  be  prop- 
erly considered  under  their  designation  of  "English 
Renaissance,"  which  eventually  developed  into  the 
Anglo-Classic,  or  Later  Renaissance  of  the  Eighteenth 
Century. 

The  production  of  glass  in  marketable  quantities 
caused  leaded  windows  to  take  the  place  of  unglazed, 
fortress-like  loopholes,  and  brick  and  ''half-timber" 
construction  became  popular. 

"Half-timber"  construction  consists  of  nothing 
more  elaborate  than  the  actual  timber  frame-work  of 
the  building  left  exposed  to  view,  and  the  spaces  be- 
tween the  timbers  filled,  or  "nogged,"  with  brick-work. 
The  brick-work  was  sometimes  covered  over  with 
stucco,  and  sometimes  left  uncovered,  in  which  case 
the  bricks  were  often  arranged  in  patterns  suggested 
by  the  shapes  of  the  spaces  filled.  The  timbers  were 
heavy  and  broad,  and  their  natural  structural  disposi- 
tion, with  corner  braces,  possessed  a  great  deal  of 
decorative  interest,  unconsciously  created  in  the  first 
half -timber  buildings,  and  consciously  elaborated  and 
developed  in  later  examples.  Nearly  all  city  houses 
were  of  this  type,  the  best  examples  remaining  to-day 
in  Chester,  a  few  in  London  and  in  certain  isolated 
buildings  such  as  the  Harvard  House  at  Stratford-on- 
Avon.  Often  some  of  the  exposed  timbers  were  elab- 
orately carved,  as  well  as  the  verge-boards  of  the  eaves. 

Another  conspicuously  important  English  Gothic 
development,  and  one  which  has  served  as  the  inspira- 
tion for  much  modern  work,  was  the  Collegiate  or 
Scholastic  Gothic  architecture  of  the  Tudor  period. 
This  was  distinctly  different  in  its  character  from 


56   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

ecclesiastical  Gothic  architecture,  in  spite  of  many 
points  of  detail  in  common. 

The  more  salient  features  of  the  English  Collegiate 
Gothic  style  are  the  octagonal  tower  (usually  in  pairs), 
the  "Tudor"  or  flat-pointed  arch,  the  pinnacles,  battle- 
ments, niches  and  tracery  parapets.  The  octagonal 
towers  were  usually  terminated  with  battlements  or 
with  a  lead  turret.  The  detail,  for  the  most  part,  was 
fine  in  scale,  and  applied  with  considerable  restraint 
and  a  remarkable  sense  for  decorative  effect.  The 
"Collegiate  Gothic"  of  England  should  really  be 
regarded  as  a  Tudor  style,  by  reason  of  many  elements 
of  Early  Eenaissance  design  which  appeared  in  it. 
It  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  style  excelled  by  no  other  for 
the  architectural  expression  of  a  school  or  a  college. 

While  the  ecclesiastical,  domestic  and  collegiate 
types  of  English  Gothic  architecture  had  much  in  com- 
mon in  many  matters  of  detail,  each  type  is  distinct 
in  itself,  as  well  as  distinctly  English. 

In  France  the  Gothic  expression  in  architecture 
adhered  to  the  main  characteristics  of  the  style,  and  the 
French  were  the  builders  of  many  of  the  most  splendid 
Gothic  churches  and  cathedrals  in  existence.  Chartres, 
Rheims,  Amiens,  Notre  Dame  and  Sainte  Chapelle  in 
Paris — these  are  names  synonymous  with  the  finest 
achievements  of  Gothic  architecture.  Even  more  fre- 
quently than  in  examples  of  English  Gothic,  the  French 
Gothic  ran  to  spires,  pinnacles  and  tracery,  and  in  the 
treatment  of  Gothic  detail  developed  a  distinctive  style 
called  " flamboyant,"  from  the  flame-like  "motion" 
of  the  ever-mounting  crockets  and  foliation.  Another 
feature  peculiar  to  the  French  Gothic  churches  and 
cathedrals,  as  well  as  the  Belgian,  is  the  fleche,  a  finely 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  57 

tapered  spire  constructed  of  timber  with  intricately 
elaborate  lead  covering.  The  fleche  was  usually  placed 
over  the  intersection  of  nave  and  transept,  and  was 
not  visible  from  a  close  view  of  the  entrance  front. 

Gothic  architecture  in  France  has  been  divided  into 
three  kinds,  roughly  assignable,  respectively  to  the 
Thirteenth,  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Centuries,  and 
designated  Gothique,  Rayonnant  (''radiating,"  from 
the  wheel-spoke  disposition  of  the  ribs  in  the  great 
rose  windows)  and  Flamboyant  (flame-like). 

There  are  many  exceptionally  fine  Gothic  secular 
buildings  in  France,  notably  the  "House  of  Jacques 
Cceur ' '  in  Bourges,  and  the  Palais  de  Justice,  in  Rouen. 
Houses  of  half- timber  construction  were  also  character- 
istic of  the  period,  as  in  England,  and  a  few  chateaux, 
such  as  the  Chateaux  de  Blois  and  Langeais,  date  from 
Gothic  times. 

When  the  Renaissance  first  began  to  affect  French 
architecture,  there  resulted  a  mingling  of  forms  which 
would  be  confusing  if  it  were  not  so  obvious.  The 
French  retained  many  Gothic  forms  in  their  Renais- 
sance buildings  longer  than  any  other  nation,  so  that 
many  transitional  buildings,  such  as  "La  Psalette"  in 
Tours,  will  be  found  to  frankly  mingle  Classic  pilasters, 
Italian  balustrades,  and  other  Renaissance  details  with 
buttresses,  flamboyant  crockets,  grotesques,  gargoyles, 
Gothic  window  mouldings,  and  other  forms  essentially 
Gothic.  In  many  of  these  French  "transitional" 
buildings  it  would  be  difficult  to  say  whether  the  spirit 
of  Gothic  or  Renaissance  architecture  predominates. 
Furthermore,  at  'Blois,  and  in  the  cases  of  many  of 
the  other  great  chateaux,  subsequent  additions  were 
made  throughout  the  Renaissance  period,  and  some  of 
these  additions  have  been  of  such  extent  and  impor- 


58   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

tance   that   the   buildings   have   been   architecturally 
classed  as  "Renaissance"  rather  than  "Gothic." 

Belgium  and  Holland,  collectively  the  "Nether- 
lands," lying  between  France  and  Germany,  naturally 
absorbed  many  architectural  traits  from  both,  besides 
developing  much  that  was  characteristically  Flemish. 

The  Gothic  architecture  of  Belgium  was  more 
closely  akin  to  that  of  France ;  Holland  Gothic  to  that 
of  Germany. 

Before  the  devastating  invasion  of  Belgium  in  the 
War  of  1914,  Louvain,  Ypres,  Malines,  and  many  other 
towns  and  cities,  were  rich  in  Gothic  buildings  of 
exceptional  charm  and  interest. 

Belgian  Gothic  architecture  was  developed,  for  the 
most  part,  along  lines  of  delicate  finesse  and  detail. 
There  was  a  tendency,  also,  toward  distinctly  pict- 
uresque masses  and  unusual  compositions,  as  in  the 
clock  tower  of  the  Town  Hall  of  Bruges. 

As  a  study  in  perpendicular  "motion"  in  Gothic 
architecture,  and  mounting  buttresses,  the  tower  of  the 
church  at  Malines  was  a  beautiful  example.  This 
church  followed  the  French  type  in  that  it  had  a  fleche 
at  the  intersection  of  nave  and  transept. 

Both  Belgium  and  Holland  developed  secular 
Gothic  architecture  to  a  high  degree  in  town  halls, 
trade  halls,  guild  halls  and  private  city  houses.  These 
were  characterised  by  qualities  incomparably  pict- 
uresque— quaint  and  interesting  in  mass  and  mar- 
velously  intricate  in  the  details  of  their  carving. 

In  Germany,  Gothic  architecture  was  a  borrowed 
style,  but  was  developed  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection 
and  nobility  in  such  cathedrals  as  Cologne,  Batisbon, 


14 


I'hotngnipli  liy  Th.  van  den  Heuvrl 

(10THIC   ARCHITECTURE   IN  BELGIUM 

A   belfry  typical  of  the  picturesque  variations  in 

'Low  Country"  Gothic  buildings 

(The  Town  Hall,  Bruges) 


Photograph  l.y  N.-unlcin  A  ('!<• 

GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE   IN   BELGIUM 

A  delicate  yet  expressive  piece  of  Gothic  design — remarkable  for  its  "perpen- 
dicular" emphasis 
(The  Church  at  Malines — destroyed  in  the  War  of  1914) 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  59 

Frankfurt,  Strassburg,  Freiburg,  Ulm  and  Regensburg. 
The  Gothic  style  was  not  indigenous  in  Germany,  but 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  borrowed  architectural  styles 
do  not  often  develop  much  individuality,  the  German 
builders  attained  many  architectural  masterpieces  in 
this  French  style.  Their  contribution  in  the  way  of 
departure  from  precedent  was  the  development  of  the 
Gothic  style  in  brick.  As  in  Belgium  and  Holland, 
Gothic  architecture  in  Germany  was  distinguished  by 
its  picturesque  secular  buildings  in  brick,  stone,  half- 
timber  and  all  these  materials  combined. 

In  Spain,  as  might  be  supposed,  the  expression  of 
the  Gothic  style  was  quite  different  from  its  expression 
in  other  parts  of  Europe.  Two  reasons  for  this  dif- 
ference might  be  cited,  out  of  many.  Spanish  builders, 
by  reason  of  the  comparative  isolation  of  Spain  behind 
the  barrier  of  the  Pyrennees,  had  little  opportunity  to 
study  or  observe  the  great  Gothic  edifices  of  France, 
which  so  dominantly  influenced  Gothic  developments 
in  England,  the  Netherlands  and  Germany.  There 
was,  too,  the  ever-present  influence  of  the  Moors,  to 
which  may  be  ascribed  the  Spanish  fancy  for  surface 
decoration,  intricate  ornamentation,  and  ornamentation 
without  reference  to  construction  or  constructive  lines. 

Moorish  influence  was  most  pronounced  in  the  entire 
southern  portion  of  Spain,  notably  in  Toledo,  and,  even 
after  Christian  supremacy  was  established,  many 
Moorish  workmen  were  employed  in  the  building  of 
churches,  by  reason  of  their  great  skill  and  ability. 

The  greatest  Gothic  monument  of  Spain  is  gener- 
ally conceded  to  be  the  Cathedral  of  Burgos,  in  the 
northern  part  of  Spain,  though  the  Cathedral  of  Toledo 
is  not  only  a  remarkably  fine  example  in  itself,  but  dis- 


60   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

tinctly  characteristic  of  the  more  peculiar  of  the 
Spanish  Gothic  traits. 

The  most  conspicuous  difference  in  Spanish  Gothic 
from  the  essentially  perpendicular  Gothic  of  other 
European  countries  lies  in  the  frequent  introduction 
of  horizontal  lines,  formed  by  bold  projections,  casting 
marked  horizontal  shadows,  or  by  traceried  galleries 
or  ornamental  courses.  This  introduction  of  the  hori- 
zontal is  apparent  in  the  tower  of  the  Toledo  cathedral. 

As  in  France,  the  period  in  Spanish  architecture 
representing  the  transition  from  Gothic  to  Renaissance 
forms  produced  many  buildings  of  the  most  peculiar 
architectural  interest — the  two  styles  rendered  addi- 
tionally picturesque  by  the  subtle  infusion  of  Moorish 
feeling  and  much  that  was  purely  Spanish. 

In  Italy  a  full  development  of  the  Gothic  style  was 
checked  by  certain  of  those  influences  and  conditions 
which  so  potently  mould  the  course  of  architecture. 
Technically,  the  ability  and  ingenuity  of  Italian  archi- 
tects and  artisans  was  more  than  equal  to  the  task  of 
mastering  the  intricacies  of  Gothic  construction  and 
design,  but  on  Italian  soil  there  was  always  the  great, 
overshadowing,  ever-dominant  Classic  influence  of 
Roman  architecture,  later  to  blossom  so  luxuriantly 
in  the  works  of  the  Renaissance.  Romanesque  and 
Byzantine  influences  were  also  to  be  reckoned  with. 
In  Europe,  these  styles  were  transplanted  from  Italy, 
and  Gothic  was  a  native  growth :  in  Italy  the  reverse 
condition  existed,  and  the  Italians  were  surrounded  not 
only  by  a  profusion  of  edifices  of  Romanesque  and 
Byzantine  design,  but  by  the  immortal  remains  of 
ancient  Rome  itself. 

Many  features,  then,  entirely  strange  to  the  Gothic 


10 


A   characteristic  Italian  rendering  of  Gothic  architecture,  rich  in  the  cok 
surface  decoration  later  seen  in  Renaissance  architecture 
(The  Palace  of  the  Doges,  Venice) 


An  architectural  composition,  full  of  detail  and  colour,  recalling  the  Byzantine  style, yet 
with   many   points  which  forecast   the  later  architecture  of   the   Renaissance 

(The  Palazzo  della  Ca  'd  'Oro,  Venice) 
SECULAR  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  IN  ITALY 


A   TYPICAL   ARCH-AND-COLUMN    COMPOSITION 
OF     THE     ITALIAN     RENAISSANCE,    BASED    ON 
THE  ROMAN  USE  OF  ARCH  AND  COLUMN 
(Courtyard  of  the  Farne.=e  Palace,  in  Rome) 


THE  ARCHITECTURAL   DIGNITY   OF  THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE 
Classic  laws  of  "order"  made  the  work  of  the  great  Renaissance  architects  of  Italy  a  prece- 
dent for  all  time 
(Portion  of  the  Vatican  Colonnade,  Piazza  di  S.  Pietro,  Rome) 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  61 

architecture  of  Northern  Europe  are  characteristic  of 
the  Gothic  architecture  of  Italy.  The  profusion  of  rich 
marbles  made  it  natural  to  perpetuate  the  Byzantine 
decorative  element,  in  mosaics  and  wall-panels  of  con- 
trasting marbles,  while  the  prevalence  of  brick  as  a 
building  material  in  many  parts  of  Italy  made  it  natural 
to  perpetuate  the  Romanesque  characteristic  of  hori- 
zontal bands  of  different  kinds  of  brick.  Round  arches 
and  Byzantine  capitals  and  ornaments  were  as  plentiful 
in  Italy  as  Gothic  pointed  arches  and  Gothic  traceries. 
Thick  walls  and  small  windows  were  necessary  as  a 
protection  from  the  sun  and  heat  of  Italy,  so  that  the 
elaborate  windows  of  French  and  English  Gothic 
churches  were  not  a  part  of  the  Italian  development 
of  the  style,  and  this  further  encouraged  the  decorative 
treatment  of  wall-spaces. 

The  absence  of  snow  made  unnecessary  the  sharply 
pointed  roofs  of  Northern  Europe,  so  that  the  slightly 
pitched  tile  roof  of  the  Romanesque  buildings  remained 
in  favour.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  colour  in  the  Gothic 
architecture  of  Italy,  and  less  elaboration  of  stone  as 
a  building  material. 

Of  all  Italian  Gothic  buildings  in  the  perpendicular 
or  pointed  style,  none  is  so  impressive  or  so  important 
as  the  Cathedral  of  Milan,  with  its  countless  spires 
and  lace-like  detail.  No  other  building  in  Italy,  per- 
haps, is  so  essentially  Gothic,  in  the  true  manner  of  its 
style  and  rendering. 

In  secular  architecture  the  master-builders  of 
Florence  and  Venice  designed  a  great  many  rich  and 
highly  decorative  facades  in  a  distinctly  Italian  inter- 
pretation of  Gothic  forms,  notably  (in  the  latter  city) 
such  buildings  as  the  Palace  of  the  Doges  and  the 
famous  Palazzo  della  Ca'd'Oro. 


62      THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

Despite  many  beautiful  and  interesting  Gothic 
monuments  in  Italy,  one  does  not  associate  the  style 
with  the  country  or  with  its  people.  The  architectural 
and  artistic  expression  seemingly  the  most  thoroughly 
and  peculiarly  Italian  is  the  style  of  the  Renaissance, 
which,  throughout  the  period  of  Gothic  architecture, 
was  here  and  there,  in  inconspicuous  details,  gradually 
taking  form  and  substance. 

RENAISSANCE  AKCHITECTUEE 

Based  on  Classic  forms,  but  inspired  by  the  genius 
of  the  most  remarkable  epoch  in  the  world's  history, 
Renaissance  architecture  followed  Gothic  architecture 
and  left  a  wealth  of  precedent  which  succeeding  cen- 
turies of  adaptation  have  not  exhausted. 

The  real  spirit  of  Renaissance  architecture  is  not 
easy  to  define  in  a  few  paragraphs,  because  much  of 
its  inception  and  growth  was  inseparably  bound  up 
with  that  remarkable  movement  which  is  known  as  the 
11  Revival  of  Learning."  Historically  the  period  of 
the  Renaissance  which  began  in  Italy  in  about  1400, 
at  the  dawn  of  the  Fifteenth  Century,  was  the  period  of 
transition  from  the  Dark  Ages  to  the  Modern  Age, 
and  in  the  span  of  the  Renaissance  from  1400  to  about 
1643,  the  world  witnessed  many  momentous  discoveries 
and  inventions. 

The  Dark  Ages,  or  the  Mediaeval  Period,  had  been 
one  of  narrow  and  bigoted  theology,  with  ignorance 
prevalent  among  the  masses,  and  a  certain  degree  of 
rather  crude  scholarship  confined  to  the  churchmen. 
It  was  the  age  of  feudalism,  when  all  men  were  virtually 
slaves  or  chattels  of  their  lords,  and  the  lords  them- 
selves were  in  awe  of  the  power  of  the  Church.  It  is 
remarkable  that  a  period  of  such  constraint  and  pre- 


THE    ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ITALIAN'    RENAISSANCE    MAGNIFICENTLY 

APPLIED   TO   THE  DESIGN   OF  AN   IMPORTANT  CHURCH 

(St.  Maria  clella  Salute,  Venice) 


TYPICAL  COMPOSITION  AND  DETAIL  OF  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 

ARCHITECTURE 
(Library  of  the  Cathedral  of  Sienna) 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  63 

vailing  ignorance  could  have  evolved  any  fabric  so 
remarkable,  so  complex  or  so  brilliantly  ingenious  as 
the  fabric  of  Gothic  architecture. 

In  a  different  way,  however,  the  architecture  of  the 
Eenaissance  was  even  more  brilliant,  and  more  expres- 
sive. Gothic  architecture  expressed  the  ecclesiasticism 
of  one  period — Renaissance  architecture  expressed  the 
humanism  of  another  period.  Gothic  architecture  was 
sombre,  aloof  from  human  life,  a  thing  consecrated  to 
the  Church.  Renaissance  architecture  was  spirited, 
closely  allied  to  human  life,  a  thing  developed  from 
human  interests. 

Renaissance  architecture  was  a  part  of  the  intense 
interest  in  the  glories  of  the  past  arts  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  an  interest  which  embraced  literature,  philoso- 
phy, pagan  mythology  and  all  the  remains  of  the  won- 
derful past  civilisation  of  the  world.  The  impetus  of 
enthusiasm  swept  aside  the  warnings  of  the  Church, 
the  dictum  that  all  things  pertaining  to  ancient  Greece 
or  Rome  were  pagan  and  unholy.  Long  enthralled  by 
the  absolutism  of  the  Church,  liberated  minds  actually 
welcomed  arts  and  philosophies  which  were  pagan  and 
unholy. 

In  architecture,  Gothic  forms  were  immediately 
abandoned  for  Roman  forms,  and  with  these  forms  as 
a  basis  and  an  inspiration,  the  architectural  genius  of 
the  Renaissance  developed  a  style  of  new  and  vital 
expression. 

Such  architects  as  Bartolommeo,  Alberti,  Brunel- 
leschi,  Palladio,  Peruzzi  and  'Bramante  immortalised 
their  names  by  the  brilliancy  of  their  architecture. 
The  period  was  one  of  prosperity  in  Italy,  especially  in 
such  important  centres  as  Florence,  Milan,  Rome  and 
Venice.  Great  patrons  of  art  came  to  light  in  the 


64   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

heads  of  the  powerful  families  of  merchant-princes  and 
Italian  nobles  such  as  the  Medici,  the  Strozzi,  the 
Davanzati,  and  many  others.  The  Church,  also,  realis- 
ing that  the  Renaissance  was  a  movement  too  powerful 
to  resist,  took  its  place  in  the  front  rank  as  a  patron  of 
art,  architecture  and  the  revival  of  literature. 

Church,  state  and  people  were  in  a  closer  relation- 
ship to  one  another  than  at  any  previous  period  in  the 
world's  history.  Men  of  humhle  origin  became  great 
as  painters,  sculptors,  architects  or  writers :  the  period 
was  one  of  intense  intellectual  and  creative  effort. 

To  this  may  be  ascribed  the  richness  and  imagina- 
tion displayed  in  Renaissance  architecture:  its  refine- 
ment of  proportion  and  studied  balance  were  the  result 
of  Classic  inspiration. 

The  wealth  of  the  powerful  families  prompted  the 
erection  of  stately  palaces  in  the  cities  and  luxurious 
villas  in  the  country — buildings  which  have  been  the 
inspiration  and  study  of  succeeding  generations  of 
architects. 

This  brief  sketch  of  the  period,  with  its  slight  sug- 
gestion of  the  impelling  spirit,  may  help  in  the  interpre- 
tation of  Renaissance  architecture  in  Italy.  In  the 
countries  of  Northern  Europe,  which  gradually  received 
the  impetus  of  the  great  movement,  the  developments 
were  logical  composites  of  Italian  forms  handled  by 
other  hands  and  blended  with  other  national  traits. 

In  Italy  the  Renaissance  architects  used  column  and 
arch  extensively,  built  splendid  domes,  such  as  those  of 
Ste.  Maria  della  Salute  and  St.  Peter's,  and  showed 
great  fancy  for  surface  decorations  and  the  use  of 
diverse  materials.  Construction  played  a  subsidiary 
part  to  design,  as  is  evidenced  by  such  frank  expedients 
as  the  introduction  of  light  iron  tie-rods  between  the 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  65 

supports  of  arches  and  vaults,  to  take  the  thrust  which 
could  not  be  met  in  the  design. 

Two  characteristic  methods  of  surface  decoration 
other  than  carving  or  mosaic  were  highly  developed  in 
the  period  of  the  Renaissance — methods  which  to-day 
are  virtually  lost  arts :  Fresco  and  Sgraffito. 

The  Frescoes  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  called  for 
the  utmost  skill  of  the  painter-draughtsmen  who  exe- 
cuted them.  Specially  mixed  pigments  were  rapidly 
applied  while  the  plaster  was  still  wet,  so  that,  upon 
its  hardening,  the  decoration  became  a  part  of  the 
actual  material.  Frescoes  were  often  applied  in  exte- 
rior decoration,  in  lunettes,  spandrils  of  arches,  panels 
or  on  entire  fagades,  and  were  extensively  used  in 
church  interiors  and  ceilings.  The  example  of  Michael 
Angelo  's  ceiling  of  the  Sistine  Chapel  is  a  conspicuous 
and  well-known  one. 

The  art  of  Sgraffito  also  demanded  the  utmost  dex- 
terity in  its  execution,  being  carried  out  while  the  stucco 
or  plaster  finish  of  the  wall  was  in  the  process  of  har- 
dening. Briefly,  it  consisted  of  laying  a  ground-coat 
of  plaster,  darkened  to  a  gray-black  by  the  mixture  of 
burnt  paper,  or  brown  by  the  mixture  of  Sienna.  Upon 
the  hardening  of  this  coat,  a  finish-coat  of  stucco  or 
plaster  was  applied,  and  on  this  the  workman  quickly 
transferred  his  ornament,  cutting  and  scraping  it  out 
so  that  the  dark  under-coat  showed  through — and  it  was 
necessary  to  do  this  before  the  finish-coat  hardened. 

Both  processes  are  extremely  decorative,  but  require 
exceptional  skill  in  their  execution,  and  a  uniformly 
temperate  climate  like  that  of  Italy  for  their  preser- 
vation when  applied  to  exteriors. 

Typical  Italian  Renaissance  architectural  composi- 
tions are  those  of  column  and  arch  or  pilaster  and  arch, 

5 


66   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

Roman  entablature,  elaborate  pediment  and  general 
profusion  of  ornamental  detail.  The  so-called  "ara- 
besque" decoration  of  the  Renaissance  pilaster  is  one 
of  the  most  characteristic  single  details  of  the  style. 
Another  Renaissance  design  of  frequent  recurrence  is 
the  statuary  niche,  with  the  upper  portion  in  the  form 
of  a  shell. 

No  type  of  architecture  compares  with  that  of  the 
Italian  Renaissance  as  so  remarkably  combining  rich- 
ness and  profusion  with  dignity  and  restraint.  Singled 
out  from  the  multitudinous  characteristics  of  this  com- 
plex style,  with  its  seemingly  infinite  variety  of  mani- 
festations, perhaps  the  two  most  salient  features  are 
surety  of  proportion  and  intelligent  application  of 
ornament. 

By  far  the  greater  number  of  buildings  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance  have  long  been  models  of  virtually  perfect 
proportions  and  perfect  scale — and  Renaissance  orna- 
ment constitutes  an  encyclopaedia  which  is  still  the  guide 
and  inspiration  of  designers  in  every  civilised  country 
of  the  world. 

So  powerful  is  the  import  of  the  Italian  Renaissance 
that,  itself  a  re-birth  of  Classic  ideas  and  ideals,  its 
re-discovery  in  the  Eighteenth  Century  caused  a  second 
"Classic  Revival" — a  movement  which,  redundancy 
notwithstanding,  might  be  called  a  re-Renaissance. 
The  tribute  is,  basically,  to  be  laid  before  the  Classic 
architecture  of  Greece  and  Rome,  which  furnished  the 
inspiration  of  the  Renaissance  itself. 

It  was  natural  that  Italy  became  the  point  of  pil- 
grimage for  all  eager  painters,  architects  and  scholars, 
who  flocked  to  learn  and  assimilate  what  they  could 
from  the  works  of  the  Italian  masters.  And  so  the 
message  of  the  Renaissance  was  carried  to  France,  to 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  67 

the  Netherlands,  to  Germany,  to  Spain,  and  lastly  to 
England. 

In  France,  architecturally,  the  style  of  " Francis  I," 
or  "Frangois  Premier,"  is  the  best-known  and  most 
conspicuous  manifestation  of  the  Italian  Renaissance — 
a  blending  of  native  mediaeval  forms  with  native  inter- 
pretations of  Italian  forms.  Many  magnificent  cha- 
teaux were  built  at  this  time,  their  most  striking  and 
native  feature  being  the  sharp,  pointed  roof  on  the 
round  tower.  Such  roofs,  in  more  temperate  Italy, 
were  unnecessary,  and  the  Italian  roof  was  nearly  flat 
and  constructed  of  tile,  with  wide,  overhanging  eaves. 

The  architecture  of  France,  although  it  underwent 
marked  changes  in  the  period  of  the  Eenaissance,  was 
more  definitely  stamped  by  Classic  forms  in  the  Eigh- 
teenth Century  Classic  Revival. 

In  the  Netherlands,  Renaissance  architecture  was 
developed  in  a  richly  elaborate  manner,  evidenced  no 
less  in  the  furniture  designs  of  the  period  than  in  the 
buildings.  Italian  forms  found  great  favour,  and  the 
most  popular  Flemish  development  was  that  of  the  half- 
human  and  half-decorative  pilaster,  tapering  toward 
the  base,  and  terminated  by  a  Flemish-Classic  human 
torso,  male  or  female,  usually  treated  as  a  caryatid, 
supporting  an  elaborate  entablature. 

In  Germany,  Renaissance  architecture  found  less 
favour,  Italian  forms  seemed  less  understood  or  less 
welcome  than  in  the  Latin  countries,  and  the  develop- 
ment was  to  a  great  extent  similar  to  that  in  Holland 
and  Belgium. 

In  Spain  the  architecture  of  the  Italian  Renaissance, 
strangely  and  richly  blended  with  traces  of  Moorish 
influence,  and  some  echo  of  the  Gothic  forms,  formed 
the  basis  of  a  peculiarly  interesting  and  complex  type. 


68   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

In  England  the  Eenaissance  found  its  highest  ex- 
pression in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  so  that  the 
term  " Elizabethan,"  when  applied  to  a  country  house, 
is  synonymous  with  the  term  ''English  Eenaissance." 
The  more  important  buildings  of  this  period  in  Eng- 
land were  distinctly  formal  and  dignified,  with  little  of 
the  spontaneous  diversity  of  the  Italian  Renaissance. 
Italian  forms,  however,  constituted  the  basis  of  design, 
and  deeply  influenced  all  subsequent  English  architec- 
ture. The  English  Renaissance  development  of  great- 
est interest  to-day,  by  reason  of  its  importance  in  the 
evolution  of  the  modern  country-house,  was  the  Eliza- 
bethan manor.  The  country  free  from  internal  wars, 
the  government  powerful  and  protective,  the  element 
of  defence  became  increasingly  less  in  evidence.  The 
houses  became  more  livable,  more  comfortable  and 
"modern"  in  character.  Increased  facilities  for  the 
manufacture  of  glass  brought  about  the  design  of 
beautiful  leaded  windows.  The  interiors  were  rich  in 
carved  woodwork,  and  floor  coverings  came  into  use. 
The  Elizabethan,  or  English  Renaissance  country- 
house,  as  will  be  shown  later,  was  an  important  step 
in  the  development  of  the  country-house  of  to-day. 

There  is  often  some  danger  of  confusing  Tudor, 
Elizabethan  and  Jacobean  country  houses,  for  the 
reason  that  the  development  through  these  three 
periods  was  so  continuous  and  so  consistent. 

In  the  Tudor  period,  beginning  with  the  reign  of 
Henry  VII  (1485-1509),  the  Gothic  style  became,  as 
it  were,  domesticated,  less  ecclesiastical.  The  flat 
pointed  arch  was  the  characteristic.  In  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII  (1509-1547),  while  many  Tudor  traits 
adhered  to  English  architecture  and  furniture,  some 
advance  influences  of  Renaissance  (Elizabethan)  forms 
began  to  appear. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ENGLAND 

The  station  of  the  Royal  Horse-Guards,  at  the  entrance  of  Whitehall,  in  London,  is  typical 
of  the  Enelish  Renaissance  expression  of  monumental  architecture 


THE  GREATEST  MONUMENT  OF  ENGLISH  RENAISSANCE   ARCHITECTURE 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  in  London,  designed  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  typifies  the  entire  character 
of  the  English  conception  of  the  architecture  of  Renaissance  Italy.  (The  lower  portion  is 
hidden  by  buildings  in  the  foreground) 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  69 

The  reign  of  Elizabeth,  from  1559  to  1603  (when 
the  Jacobean  period  began)  saw  the  height  of  the 
Renaissance  in  England,  and  prepared  the  way  for 
further  development  in  the  succeeding  period. 

The  Jacobean  period,  covering  the  years  from  1603 
to  1688,  saw  a  more  thorough  assimilation  of  Italian 
forms  and  ideas,  together  with  the  beginnings  of  French 
influence. 

The  stage  was  then  occupied  from  1688  to  1702  by 
the  Dutch-English  sovereigns,  William  and  Mary  and 
Queen  Anne,  during  whose  reigns  influences  from 
Holland  were  strong. 

The  most  notable  monument  of  Renaissance  archi- 
tecture in  England  is  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  in  London, 
commenced  under  the  reign  of  James  I  (1603-1625), 
by  the  great  architect  of  the  Jacobean  period,  Sir 
Christopher  Wren.  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  may  be 
regarded  as  typical  of  the  English  conception  of  Renais- 
sance architecture,  as  well  as  typical  of  much  con- 
temporary work  of  lesser  magnitude. 

A  contemporary  architect  of  equal  influence  on  his 
times  was  Inigo  Jones,  who  designed  a  great  many  of 
those  small  city  churches  which  furnished  the  inspira- 
tion for  the  designers  of  our  Early  American  churches. 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral  was  not  completed  until  after 
t'he  Jacobean  period,  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne  (1702- 
1714),  and  its  architect,  Wren,  lived  until  1723,  dying 
during  the  reign  of  the  first  George. 

The  final  development  in  England,  partly  a  belated 
echo  of  the  Renaissance,  took  place  during  the  Georgian 
period,  from  1714  to  1830,  manifesting  itself  in  what  is 
called  the  Eighteenth  Century  Classic  Revival,  which 
will  be  dealt  with  in  the  chapter  following. 

The  period  of  the  Renaissance  in  Italy  was  a  period 


70      THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

too  brilliant  intellectually,  and  too  unstable  socially 
and  politically,  to  last  indefinitely.  It  is  remarkable, 
indeed,  that  it  lasted  over  two  centuries.  It  must 
always  be  remembered  that  those  two  centuries  left  to 
the  world  of  art  and  architecture  a  priceless  legacy  of 
unsurpassed  works  of  genius. 

The  decadence  of  Renaissance  art  is  to  be  seen  in 
the  Rococo  or  Baroque  development  of  the  last  three 
quarters  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.  Ornament  was 
developed  to  an  extravagant  and  tastelessly  dispropor- 
tionate degree — architectural  forms  were  distorted  and 
perverted  in  a  thousand  fantastic  and  impossible 
vagaries.  Structural  principles  were  ignored,  and 
decoration  was  the  main  feature,  not  the  embellishment 
of  'Baroque  buildings. 

It  has  been  the  habit  of  most  architectural  critics 
to  sweepingly  condemn  all  Baroque  architecture,  but 
such  condemnation  is  neither  intelligent  nor  merited. 
Granted  that  the  style  may  be  proved  fundamentally 
illogical  on  many  scores,  it  evolved  many  forms  of  per- 
manent beauty  and  value,  and  was,  if  nothing  else,  an 
essentially  decorative  style,  later  developed  along  more 
rational  lines  in  some  phases  of  the  French  style  of 
Louis  XV.  Despite  the  usual  dismissal,  then,  of  the 
Baroque  or  Rococo  style  as  a  mere  architectural  curi- 
osity, entirely  decadent,  and  even  artistically  immoral, 
it  will  be  found  more  valuable  to  place  it  as  a  distinct 
expression  of  a  peculiar  idea,  and  an  undeniably  inter- 
esting page  in  the  sequence  of  the  architectural  styles 
of  the  past. 

This  chapter,  together  with  the  preceding  chapter, 
has  been  designed,  in  a  necessarily  brief  manner,  to 
trace  and  define  the  evolution  of  architecture  from  its 
ancient  forms  in  Egypt  and  Assyria,  through  the 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  71 

immortal  architecture  of  Greece,  the  imperial  architec- 
ture of  Rome  and  the  Byzantine  and  Romanesque 
styles.  Classic  forms,  temporarily  forgotten  in  the  mar- 
velous and  intricate  development  of  Gothic  architecture 
through  the  Twelfth,  Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth  Cen- 
turies, once  more  came  to  light  in  the  Italian  Renais- 
sance, were  re-born  with  strength  and  vitality  sufficient 
to  displace  Gothic  architecture,  and  potently  mould  the 
character  of  all  architecture  up  to  the  present  day. 

The  following  chapter  will  outline  the  further  course 
of  the  " Classic  Ideal,"  through  the  "Revival"  of  the 
Eighteenth  Century,  in  France,  in  England  and  in  this 
country,  and  will  define  its  undiminished  force  in  the 
architecture  of  to-day.  Subsequent  chapters,  dealing 
primarily  with  modern  buildings,  will  point  out  their 
several  derivations  from  those  styles  which  have  been 
briefly  outlined  up  to  this  point. 

SUMMARY 

GOTHIC 

Types  of  Building:   Notably  churches  and  cathedrals.     (See  division  by 
countries.) 

In  England. — Cathedrals  and  churches,  chapels,  country  and  city 
residences.  The  English  "half-timber"  houses  originated  in  Gothic 
times.  The  English  "  Collegiate  "  style  was  a  transition  from  Gothic 
to  Renaissance  architecture. 

In  France. — Cathedrals,  churches  and  chapels.  Early  chateaux, 
city  buildings. 

In  Belgium  and  Holland. — Cathedrals,  churches  and  chapels, 
town  halls  and  guild  halls.  City  buildings  of  all  types. 

In  Kpain. — Cathedrals,  churches  and  chapels.  As  in  Italy,  the 
Gothic  style  never  attained  such  popularity  as  the  succeeding  style 
of  the  Renaissance. 

In   Italy. — Cathedrals   and    churches.     City   palaces   and    houses. 
The  Gothic  style  in  Italy  was  not  enthusiastically  adopted,  nor  of 
importance  comparable  with  the  style  of  the  Renaissance. 
Construction:    Vaulted.     Entire  fabric  of  Gothic  architecture  developed 
from  ribs  of  masonry. 


72   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

Materials:  Stone.  In  Germany,  a  Gothic  architecture  of  brick  was 
developed. 

Detail;  Carved. — Leaf  motifs,  called  "  foliation,"  niches,  images  of 
saints,  grotesques,  gargoyles  and  "  chimeras,"  pinnacles,  pierced 
stone  traceries. 

Surface  decorations. — In  many  examples,  "  polychrome,"  or  paint- 
ing and  gilding,  was  practised.  Mosaics  used  occasionally.  Greatest 
decorative  effects  were  obtained  by  use  of  stained  glass. 

RENAISSANCE 
Types  of  Building: 

In  Italy. — Cathedrals  and  churches,  tombs,  palaces,  city  residences, 
country  villas  and  architectural  gardens,  pavilions  and  casinos. 

In  France. — Churches;  chateaux;  city  buildings  of  all  types. 

In  Belgium  and  Holland. — City  buildings  of  all  types. 

In  Germany. — The  Renaissance  style  never  became  nationalised, 
and  had  no  great  vogue.  Seen  mostly  in  city  buildings. 

In  Spain. — Cathedrals  and  churches;  city  buildings  of  all  types. 

In   England. — Cathedrals    and    churches;    city   buildings    of   all 
types;  English  country  houses  (Elizabethan  and  Jacobean). 
Construction:     As  in  modern  times,  many  types  of  construction  were 
followed:   vaults  were  often  employed,  also  heavy-beamed  ceilings. 
Gothic  vaulting  was  not  favoured,  and  many  structural  facts  were 
ignored,   especially  in   the  brilliant   designs   of  the  great  Italian 
architects.    Compositions  of  column  and  arch  were  popular.     . 
Materials:   To  the  Renaissance  architect  all  materials  existed  as  media 
for  architectural  expression.    Great  diversity.     Stone,  brick,  terra- 
cotta, rare  marbles — all  were  materia  of  design. 

Detail:  Carved;  mouldings,  friezes,  columns,  capitals,  pilasters  and  all 
other  members  frequently  carved  with  richness  and  profusion,  but 
remarkable  restraint  in  design. 

Surface  decoration. — Modelled  stucco,  mosaics:  fresco  buono 
(veritable  fresco  painting)  and  sgraffito. 

Motifs. — Decorations  all  derived  from  Classic  Greek  and  Roman 
sources,  essentially  "  modernised  "  and  given  new  life,  variety  and 
meaning  by  the  vitalising  spirit  of  the  Renaissance. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL 

A  STUDY  OF  THE  IMMORTAL  QUALITIES  OF  CLASSIC  ARCHI- 
TECTURE. ITS  MANIFESTATIONS  IN  SEVERAL  "  CLASSIC  " 
REVIVALS.  THE  IMPORTANT  PLACE  OF  CLASSIC  ARCHI- 
TECTURE IN  THE  DESIGN  OF  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS.  THE 

SCHOOL  OF  THE  BEAUX  ARTS,  ITS  TEACHINGS  AND  ITS 
WIDE  INFLUENCE 

CLASSIC  DERIVATIONS  AND  THE  BEAUX- ARTS  SCHOOL 

IN  tracing  the  course  of  the  Classic  Ideal,  and  in 
recognising  its  recurrence  in  the  most  important 
of  modern  buildings,  one  is  impelled  to  inquire :  What, 
exactly,  is  the  Classic  Ideal? 

The  answer  is  a  simple  one,  yet  fraught  with  great 
significance  in  architecture.  The  Classic  Ideal  is  the 
Ideal  of  Order.  It  is  because  Classic  architecture  was 
based  on  the  idea  of  order  that  it  was  characterised  by 
purity,  and  its  order  and  purity,  being  immortal  quali- 
ties, have  caused  Classic  architecture  not  only  to  live, 
but  to  stand  to-day  as  the  rational  basis  of  the  archi- 
tectural design  of  all  time. 

Gothic  architecture  was  ingenious — a  magnificent 
and  beautiful  experiment.  Classic  architecture  was  not 
experimental — its  principles  were  as  sound  as  Euclid 
in  their  day,  and  have  lost  none  of  that  soundness  in 
the  centuries  which  have  passed. 

In  the  architecture  of  the  Renaissance  there  were 
many  paradoxes,  even  shams,  much  earnestness,  but  a 
minor  amount  of  the  experimental  quality  of  Gothic 
architecture.  There  was,  however,  enough  of  Classic 
order  in  Renaissance  architecture  to  give  it  some  degree 

73 


74      THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

of  the  immortal  qualities  of  the  Classic  and  make  it  a 
potent  factor  in  the  architecture  of  to-day. 

The  three  "Orders,"  or  types  of  Greek  columns, 
comprised  later  in  the  Roman  "Five  Orders,"  were 
symbols  of  Classic  architecture,  details  of  a  much  larger 
whole.  And  these  "Orders"  are  architecturally  fine 
not  because  Vignola,  or  "precedent"  or  the  schools 
say  they  are  fine,  but  because  they  were  conceived  in 
logic  and  executed  in  terms  of  purity  of  form. 

The  Greek  relationship  of  column  to  entablature  is  a 
standard  because  it  is  logical  and  because  the 
members  are  relatively  complementary — not  because 
the  arrangement  is  '  *  Greek. ' '  The  merit  of  the  Classic 
column  and  entablature  rests  in  the  fact  that  the  column 
is  (both  structurally  and  apparently)  adequate  to  sup- 
port the  entablature  which  rests  upon  it,  and  the  entab- 
lature is  of  adequate  weight  to  explain  the  girth  of  the 
column.  A  perfect  balance  exists. 

Before  proceeding  further,  it  seems  advisable  to 
present  a  brief  outline  of  the  logical  growth  of  the 
Classic  column. 

The  first  Greek  order,  the  Doric,  was  massive  and 
heavy,  the  columns  placed  closely  together,  and  seem- 
ing (as  well  as  being)  more  massive  than  necessary  to 
support  the  entablature.  The  refinement  of  a  base  had 
not  been  thought  of.  Logical  design,  meaning  a  rela- 
tion of  form  to  structure,  however,  was  apparent  in 
the  Doric  capital.  The  shaft  of  the  column  was  cylin- 
drical, the  beam  resting  upon  it  was  rectilinear.  It  was 
necessary  to  effect  a  transition.  It  was  also  necessary 
to  effect  a  transition  from  the  vertical  line  of  the  column 
to  the  horizontal  line  of  the  architrave,  or  beam,  which 
rested  upon  it.  Hence  the  "abacus,"  the  circular, 
"bowl-shaped  member  surmounting  the  shaft. 


"CLASSIC  DERIVATIONS"  FOR  MODKKN  AMERICAN 
BANK  BUILDINGS,  BASED  ON  THE  DORIC  AND  THE 
IONIC  ORDERS  OF  ANCIENT  GREECE 


McKim,  ftiead  dt  W  lute,  Architects  Photograph  by  Julian  Buckly 

Buildings  of  the  type   called  "monumental"  are  best  rendered  in  terms  of  Classic  dignity 
(The  New  York  City  Post-office) 


Shepley,  Kutan  &  Coolidge,  Architects 

Classic  precedent  is  apparent  in  virtually  all  large  buildings  where  dignity  is  a  requisite 
(New  building  for  the  Harvard  Law  School,  Cambridge,  Mass.) 


THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL  75 

The  beauty-loving  Greeks,  however,  were  not  long 
content  with  the  heavy,  often  clumsy  proportions  of  the 
Doric  order.  Their  first  effort  toward  lightening  it 
appeared  in  the  vertical  fluting  of  the  shaft.  To  add 
a  little  "detail"  they  designed  a  few  rings,  or  " annu- 
lets, ' '  immediately  below  the  abacus. 

The  next  evolution  was  the  Ionic  capital,  its  spiral 
''volutes"  derived  from  Asia  Minor  and  used  in  con- 
junction with  an  almost  concealed  abacus.  With  the 
development  of  the  Ionic  order,  it  was  found  that  the 
great  girth  of  the  Doric  column  was  not  necessary,  and 
consequently  the  shaft  was  lightened  and  its  verticality 
emphasised  by  delicate  fluting. 

The  final  development  came  in  the  Corinthian  order, 
in  which  the  design  of  the  capital  effected  a  perfect 
transition  from  shaft  to  entablature,  from  the  vertical 
to  the  horizontal,  and  from  round  to  square.  It  will 
be  seen  upon  study  of  the  Corinthian  capital  how  this 
transition  was  achieved.  First,  the  necking  indicated 
the  height  of  the  clear  shaft,  without  actually  terminat- 
ing it  abruptly.  The  lines  of  the  shaft  continue  upward 
through  the  foliation,  gradually  springing  outward  in 
the  volutes  which  support  the  abacus.  This  abacus,  in 
the  form  of  a  square  with  concave  sides,  performs  the 
dual  function  of  fitting  the  shape  of  the  capital  and 
conforming  with  the  architrave  which  rests  on  it.  The 
spread  of  the  Corinthian  capital  immediately  below  the 
abacus  gives  the  additional  impression  of  the  weight 
of  the  superimposed  entablature,  while  any  sense  of 
too  great  weight  is  counteracted  by  the  lightness  and 
grace  of  the  detail  of  leaves. 

It  can  never  be  gainsaid  that  the  Corinthian  capital 
is  a  masterpiece  of  design,  being  both  expressive  of  its 
function  and  beautiful  in  its  form. 


76   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

With  the  evolution  of  the  Greek  column,  there  natu- 
rally took  place  a  corresponding  evolution  of  the  entab- 
lature, both  in  its  proportions  and  its  decoration. 

The  Greek  Doric  entablature  (as  exemplified  in  the 
Parthenon)  consisted  of  a  plain  architrave,  a  frieze 
divided  into  triglyphs  and  metopes  and  a  cornice,  which 
was  split  to  run  upward  into  the  great  pediment. 

The  proportions  of  the  Greek  Ionic  closely  followed 
those  of  the  Doric,  but  the  frieze  was  a  continuous 
band,  allowing  of  a  continuous  decoration  of  bas-relief 
figures.  The  heavy  appearance  of  the  architrave  was 
remarkably  lightened  by  the  expedient  of  splitting  it 
up  into  three  horizontal  divisions,  the  upper  two 
slightly  overlapping  the  lower,  and  a  fine  decorated 
moulding  marking  the  division  from  the  frieze.  The 
cornice  member,  also,  was  decoratively  elaborated  to 
some  extent,  introducing  (in  later  examples)  the  dentils 
and  modillions  of  the  Corinthian  cornice. 

The  Corinthian  entablature  is  a  model  of  skilful  and 
adequate  proportions  and  aptly  applied  decoration. 
The  architrave  and  frieze  remained  as  in  the  Ionic 
form,  but  the  cornice,  the  last,  or  "finishing"  member 
of  the  building,  was  elaborated  to  form  a  crown,  and 
logically  terminate  the  entire  composition.  It  was 
required  to  effect  " interest'*  in  diversified  shadows, 
so  the  "dentil"  course  was  made  a  part  of  the  Corin- 
thian cornice,  and  the  various  mouldings  were  deco- 
rated. Greater  projection  was  required,  in  order  to 
cast  a  strong  shadow  at  the  top  of  the  building,  but  it 
was  evident  that  a  plain  "overhang"  of  stone,  far 
beyond  the  face  of  the  frieze,  would  seem  as  though 
likely  to  topple  down,  no  matter  how  securely  it  might 
actually  be  anchored  into  the  masonry  of  the  entabla- 
ture. To  correct  this  illusion,  the  "modillions"  were 


19 


\Villis  Polk,  Architect 

A  GRACEFUL  "CLASSIC   DERIVATION"  IN  A   UTILI- 
TARIAN STRUCTURE 

This  use  of  a  Classic  order  is  illustrative  also  of  the  Classic  derivations 

often  seen  in  memorial  monuments,  garden  temples  and  mausoleums 

(Water  Temple,  Sunol,  California) 


Trowbridge  &  Acki-rnian,  Architects 

ANGLO-ITALIAN   DERIVATION   IN  A  GARDEN  TEA-HOUSE 

This  small  building,  in  the  garden  of  a  large  American  country  place  on  Long  Island, 
presents  an  interesting  study  in  dual  derivation.  It  is  excellently  in  character  with 
the  Renaissance  architecture  of  England,  which  the  English  borrowed  from  Italy 


A    WORK  OF    PURE  CLASSIC    INSPIRATION    COMBINING    ELEMENTS    BOTH 

GREEK  AND  ROMAN 
(The  "Marble  Arch"  entrance  to  Hyde  Park,  London,  England) 


Kichunl  Morris  Hunt,  Architect 

CLASSIC    DERIVATIONS    ARE    APPARENT    IN    VIRTUALLY    ALL    MODERN 

BUILDINGS  FOR  MUSEUMS,  LIBRARIES  AND  ART  GALLERIES 

(The  Fogg  Museum  of  Art,  Cambridge,  Massachusetts) 


THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL  77 

introduced — light,  graceful  brackets,  spaced  at  inter- 
vals, and  seeming  to  take  care  of  the  overhang  of  the 
uppermost  portion  of  the  cornice.  An  additional  ingeni- 
ous expedient  was  the  treatment  of  the  underside  of  the 
overhang,  in  the  spaces  between  the  modillions,  with 
sunken  panels,  or  "  coffers,"  the  intention  being  to 
cause  the  projecting  slabs  both  to  be  and  seem  lighter. 

These  were  the  "Three  Orders."  The  famous 
"Five  Orders"  of  Vignola  added  two  developments, 
the  Tuscan,  or  Roman  Doric,  and  the  Composite,  or 
Roman  Ionic.  Neither  will  be  seen  to  embody  new 
principles — they  are  variations.  The  Roman  Doric 
order  (later  exceedingly  popular  in  the  Renaissance, 
together  with  the  Corinthian)  was  a  refinement  of  the 
Greek  Doric,  with  slighter  girth  and  the  addition  of  a 
base.  The  Composite  was,  in  effect,  a  combination  of 
the  Greek  Ionic  volute  and  a  decorated  Doric  abacus, 
differing  from  Greek  Ionic  mainly  in  that  the  volutes 
sprang  out  in  a  cornerwise,  or  diagonal  direction,  in- 
stead of  lying  parallel  with  the  lines  of  the  architrave. 

The  Romans  did  not  use  the  three  original  Greek 
orders  exactly  as  they  found  them,  but  made  many 
minor  changes  in  proportions,  and  treated  both  column 
and  entablature  with  far  more  ornateness  than  charac- 
terised Greek  architecture.  The  most  characteristic 
Roman  development,  later  enthusiastically  adopted  by 
the  Renaissance  builders,  was  the  arch  placed  between 
two  columns,  in  a  manner  illustrated  by  the  treatment 
of  the  great  Colosseum,  and  seen  in  most  of  the  Roman 
triumphal  arches.  Pilasters  corresponding  with  all 
three  of  the  Greek  Orders  and  all  five  of  the  Roman 
Orders,  were  developed  in  conformity  with  the  columns, 
and  were  greatly  favoured  as  purely  decorative  features 
by  the  Renaissance  architects. 


78   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

These  are  the  barest  elements  of  the  "Classic 
Orders,"  and  in  previous  chapters  we  have  seen  them 
buried  in  the  fall  of  Borne,  then  a  fickle  attempt  to 
perpetuate  them,  even  while  departing  from  them  in 
the  Romanesque  and  Byzantine  architecture  which  led 
to  the  development  of  the  Gothic  style.  Classic  forms, 
then,  for  three  centuries,  were  forgotten,  but  were 
re-born — came  to  light  again  for  three  glorious  cen- 
turies in  the  period  of  the  Renaissance.  Then,  for 
nearly  a  century,  Classic  forms  were  misused,  even  if 
not  entirely  forgotten,  in  the  vagaries  of  the  Baroque 
and  Rococo  styles. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  a 
reaction  from  the  extravagance  of  Baroque  was  inevi- 
table. And  the  reaction  took  the  form  of  the  Classic 
Revival  in  France  and  in  England.  Some  feeling  of 
this  revival  manifested  itself  in  this  country  even  as 
late  as  the  first  two  decades  of  the  Nineteenth  Century. 
And  while  there  is  at  the  present  period  no  feeling 
in  design  so  sweeping  or  general  as  to  be  called  a 
" Classic  Revival,"  Classic  derivations  are  everywhere 
apparent,  and  almost  invariably  in  such  monumental 
buildings  as  are  desired  to  express  qualities  of  dignity 
and  permanency,  such  as  capitols,  post  offices,  libraries, 
museums,  banks,  and  the  larger  railroad  stations. 

THE  CLASSIC  REVIVAL  IN  FRANCE 

Observation  of  the  Classic  Revival  is  best  begun 
in  France  with  a  momentary  survey  of  the  progress  of 
architecture  immediately  preceding  the  period  of 
Louis  XVI. 

The  reign  of  Louis  XIV  came  to  a  close  in  1714  and 
the  architecture  of  the  period,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
preceding  period,  was  pompous,  elaborate,  grandiose. 


Photograph  liy  Neurdeiu  A:  <'if 

THE  COMBINATION   OF  "THE  GRAND   MANNER"   OF   LOUIS  XIV   AND    THE 
CLASSIC  TENDENCY  IN  FRENCH  ARCHITECTURE 

(The  "Court  de  Marbre,"  at  Versailles) 


Photograph  l>.v  Neurdeiu  A  ('it- 

THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  CLASSIC  REVIVAL  IN  FRENCH  ARCHITECTURE 

(Perspective  of  the  Colonnade  of  the  Louvre,  Paris) 


THE    RESTRAINED    FRENCH    CLAS-SICISM    OF 

LOUIS  XVI 
(A  detail  of  the  Louvre,  Pfris) 


THE    FORMAL    PHASE   OF   LOUIS   XVI    ARCHITECTURAL    REFINEMENT 
(Petit  Trianon,  Versailles) 


THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL  79 

Buildings  of  the  time  show  a  conflict  between  Renais- 
sance order  in  design  and  'Baroque  extravagance,  and 
all  carried  out  in  what  was  called  (most  appropriately) 
"The  Grand  Manner." 

The  succeeding  period,  that  of  Louis  XV,  is  often 
called  the  " Rococo"  period,  because  the  "rock-and- 
shell"  style  reached  its  height  at  this  time.  "Louis 
Quinze  work  is  practically  synonymous  with  Rococo,  the 
fanciful  rock-and-shell  curves  that,  like  some  fungous 
growth,  invaded  all  branches  of  decorative  art  with 
amazing  recklessness  and  rapidity."  The  characteris- 
tics of  the  period  \vere  distinct  in  their  nature,  though 
elaborate  and  various  in  form.  Curved  lines  and  intri- 
cate foliation  appeared  in  all  designs,  and  lack  of  sym- 
metry was  considered  a  desirable  achievement.  Impor- 
tation of  many  works  of  art  from  China  at  this  time 
added  Oriental  fantasies  to  the  already  fantastic 
Baroque-Rococo  style,  which  grew  increasingly  ex- 
travagant throughout  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.  Much 
decorative  work  of  the  period  is  by  no  means  without 
merit,  but  the  style  was  too  frivolous  to  effect  any 
permanently  great  architectural  expression. 

Despite  the  intense  interest  in  the  Rococo  style,  its 
very  extravagance  finally  became  so  wearisome  and 
distracting  that  the  reaction  of  the  Classic  Revival  set 
in  with  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI  (1774-1793),  and  Classic 
forms  became  increasingly  popular  until  the  close  of 
the  "Empire"  period,  in  1814. 

Despite  the  uncertain  character  of  "style"  through 
the  reigns  of  Louis  XIII,  Louis  XIV,  and  Louis  XV, 
such  buildings  as  the  palace  at  Versailles,  and  the 
Louvre  in  Paris  were  being  planned  and  commenced, 
the  Classic  dignity  of  many  portions  of  Versailles  is 
to  be  attributed  to  J.  H.  Mansart,  the  master-architect 


80   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

of  Louis  XIV,  who  vastly  enlarged  the  palace.  The 
name  of  Mansart  is  preserved  to-day  in  the  French  type 
of  roof  which  we  call,  in  this  country,  the  "mansard" 
roof.  In  the  works  of  Mansart,  such  as  his  additions 
to  Versailles  and  the  Second  Church  of  the  Invalides, 
there  was  much  of  the  Classicism  which  became  the 
national  architecture  of  the  period  of  Louis  XVI,  after 
the  Louis  XV  Rococo  fallacy  had  lived  its  butterfly 
span  of  life.  Mansart 's  conception  of  Classic  forms, 
as  well  as  those  of  his  contemporaries  and  immediate 
predecessors,  dealt  with  a  heavier  Classicism  than  that 
of  Louis  XVI — an  imposing  and  dignified  style,  its 
admirable  qualities  of  proportion  and  alignment  of 
parts  playing  an  important  part  in  the  later  develop- 
ment of  French  architecture. 

The  Classic  elements  of  the  architecture  of  this 
period,  however,  owed  their  inspiration  not  directly  to 
Classic  sources,  but  to  the  architecture  of  the  Renais- 
sance. The  periods  of  Louis  XIII  and  Louis  XIV  did 
not  constitute  a  period  of  Classic  Revival,  but  rather 
a  continuation  of  the  impulses  of  the  Renaissance — • 
almost  a  re-Renaissance,  in  which  Classic  forms  were 
struggling  to  shake  off  the  vagaries  of  the  Baroque 
style. 

The  real  French  Classic  Revival  took  place  under 
Louis  XVI,  and  in  this  period  the  architects  and  de- 
signers were  impelled  by  a  dual  Classic  inspiration — 
the  Classicism  of  the  Renaissance,  strengthened  by  the 
direct  influence  of  the  great  archaeological  discoveries 
made  at  that  time  in  Greece  and  Rome,  and  especially 
in  the  buried  ruins  of  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum.  The 
stimulus  caused  by  these  discoveries  can  be  likened  only 
to  the  boundless  enthusiasm  evoked  from  the  pioneers 
of  the  Italian  Renaissance  in  1400,  when  they  first  be- 


Mali-nit,  Photographer 
AN    EXAMPLE   OF   THE    DELICATE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY    CLASSICISM    OF 

LOUIS  XVI 
(The  "Orangerie,"  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  Paris) 


holograph  by  Ncunlciii  &  Cic 

A   TYPICAL   EXAMPLE   OF   LOUIS   XVI   ARCHITECTURE 

H'hc  Chateau  <!p  Bagatelle,  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  Purist 


Warren  &  Wetmore,  Architects 
A    PURE    DERIVATION    OF    THE    FRENCH    CLASSIC    ARCHITECTURE    OF    LOUIS    XVI 

There  is  apparent  here  the  nicety  of  alignment  in  composition,  as  well  as  the  restraint  in  the  modelling 

and  application  of  detail  characteristic  of  the  best  French  Classic  architecture 

(A   Jeweller's   shop   on   Fifth   Avenue,    New   York) 


i 


Delano  &  Aldrich,  Architects 


CLASSIC    FRENCH    (LOUIS    XVI)    DERIVATION    IN  THE    CROWNING  STORY  OF  A 

BUSINESS  BUILDING 

Traits  of  the   style  are  apparent  in  the  finial  urns,  the  use  of  carved  cloth  "drapes "and  the  use  of  a 

lyre  as  a  "musical  attribute."     General  severity  of  profile  and  flatness  of  relief  are  also  characteristic 

(Premises  of  a  New  York  City  Music  Publisher) 


THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL  81 

came  aware  of  the  possibilities  lying  dormant  in  the  so 
long  neglected  treasure-house  of  antiquity. 

The  Classic  Revival  as  reflected  in  the  architecture 
and  other  arts  of  the  period  of  Louis  XVI  showed  a 
complete  reversion  from  Baroque  and  Rococo  forms, 
and  developed,  in  what  is  known  as  the  "Formal, 
Phase ' '  of  Louis  XVI,  a  style  of  the  utmost  refinement 
and  urbanity.  Wall  surfaces  were  kept  flat,  mouldings 
and  cornices  had  slight  projections  and  were  finely 
modelled.  Ornamental  sculpture  was  treated  in  flat 
relief,  and  usually  confined  to  a  panel  or  medallion. 
Elliptical  window  openings,  with  garlands  hanging 
down  on  each  side,  as  well  as  elliptical  medallions,  were 
very  popular,  and  another  architectural  character- 
istic was  the  frequent  introduction  of  "  attributes ' ' 
for  decorative  purposes.  These  ' '  attributes ' '  consisted 
of  admirably  designed  groupings,  in  low  relief,  of  ob- 
jects symbolically  associated  with  the  building — such  as 
antique  tragic  and  some  comic  masques,  lyres  and  other 
musical  instruments  for  the  facade  of  a  theatre  or  con- 
cert hall  (as  at  Amiens),  palettes,  paint-brushes  and 
other  paraphernalia  for  an  art  gallery. 

Earlier  French  characteristics  of  architectural  com- 
position, called,  even  at  this  period,  "academic,"  still 
governed  the  Classic  Revival  architects  of  the  period 
of  Louis  XVI,  and  the  great  change  was  chiefly  in 
matters  of  detail. 

While  many  forms  were  purely  Classic,  derived 
directly  from  ancient  sources,  there  were  many  forms, 
also,  of  Italian  Renaissance  origin. 

Later    French    architecture,    as    formulated    and 

taught  by  the  great  Ecole  Nationale  des  Beaux  Arts, 

blended  these  two  kinds  of  detail,  developed  a  certain 

more  "modern"  feeling  as  well,  and  adhered  strictly 

6 


82   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

to  the  earlier  French  " academic"  emphasis  on  sym- 
metrical and  axial  plans.  Architecture  as  taught  at  the 
Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts  has  had  a  wide  influence  on  the 
architecture  of  many  countries  outside  France,  because 
of  the  fact  that  students  from  other  countries  spend 
periods  of  years  in  study  there,  assimilating  the  style 
and  the  habits  of  architectural  thought  which  produce 
what  is  called  "Beaux  Arts  Architecture."  This  type 
of  design  and  detail  is  of  such  great  importance  that 
it  will  be  discussed  more  thoroughly  directly  following 
the  history  of  the  Eighteenth  Century  Classic  Eevival. 

The  architecture  of  no  period  subsequent  to  that  of 
the  ancient  Greeks  has  developed  along  lines  of  such 
studied  refinement  as  that  of  the  period  of  Louis  XVI — 
the  period  which  produced  the  Petit  Trianon  at 
Versailles,  the  Chateau  de  Bagatelle  in  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne,  and  so  many  other  buildings  describable  only 
by  the  term  "exquisite." 

The  period  of  Louis  XVI  was  followed,  after  the 
two-year  "Beign  of  Terror"  of  the  revolution,  by  the 
Directoire  Period,  which  covered  the  years  1795  to  1804. 
Classicism  was  carried  even  further  than  under  Louis 
XVI.  It  invaded  the  realm  of  women's  dress,  with  the 
"Tunique  a  la  Grecque,"  and  with  such  Classic  cos- 
tumes and  coiffures  as  that  of  Mme.  Becamier  in  the 
famous  portrait  by  David,  which  shows,  as  well,  the 
purely  Classic  furniture  of  the  period.  The  "Alle- 
gorical" portrait  was  greatly  in  favour,  as  in  the  reign 
of  Louis  XVI  when  the  ladies  of  the  Court  were  por- 
trayed in  Classic  draperies,  as  "Diana"  or  "Hebe,"  or 
Greek  nymphs  of  mythology.  This  was  the  period  of 
tastes  called  "Neo-Grec"  or  "Neo-Classic." 

The  decade  of  the  Empire  (1804-1814),  following 
the  period  of  the  Directoire,  saw,  at  the  dawn  of  the 


THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL  83 

Nineteenth  Century,  a  taste  for  Classic  and  archaeo- 
logical forms  amounting  to  a  mania.  Not  content  with 
inspiration  from  the  remains  of  Greece  and  Rome, 
architects  and  designers  revived  Egyptian  forms — 
sphinxes  and  terminal  figures,  heads  and  other  details. 
The  Classicism  of  the  Empire  outdid,  in  profusion  of 
archaeological  forms,  the  Classicism  of  the  very  an- 
tiquity which  formed  its  inspiration.  Many  details  of 
the  preceding  schools  of  French  architecture  survived, 
notably  the  use  of  "attributes"  as  a  decorative  motif. 
Under  such  a  warlike  Emperor  as  Napoleon,  these  attri- 
butes were  most  often  military,  bristling  with  spears, 
and  introducing  not  only  Roman  helmets  and  armour, 
but  trappings  of  design  current  at  the  time. 

So  complete  was  the  leaning  toward  archaeological 
forms  that  much  architecture  of  the  Empire  period  is 
too  extravagant  to  possess  merit,  even  though  nearly 
all  Empire  designs  are  interesting.  The  two  great 
names  of  the  period  were  Percier  and  Fontaine,  who 
were  no  less  noted  for  their  furniture  designs  than  for 
their  architectural  achievements.  These  two  architects, 
indeed,  are  generally  regarded  as  the  creators  and  the 
foremost  exponents  of  the  Empire  style. 

Despite  its  bombastic  and  grandiose  qualities,  its 
heaviness  and  its  frequent  lack  of  refinement,  the 
Empire  style  seldom  failed  to  achieve  dignity,  and  many 
works  of  the  period  are  of  a  high  order  of  architectural 
excellence.  Italian  precedents  were  virtually  ignored 
or  forgotten  in  the  enthusiasm  over  antique  forms. 

Among  the  most  interesting  of  all  relics  of  the  period 
in  France  are  the  apartments  remodelled  for  Napoleon 
at  Fontainebleau,  Compiegne  and  Trianon,  and  the 
country-house,  Malmaison,  done  for  the  Empress 
Josephine.  Extreme  as  was  its  nature,  many  archi- 


84   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

tectural  details  of  the  Empire  period  have  survived  in 
the  architecture  of  to-day.  When  any  pronounced  style 
is  followed  with  such  extravagance  as  the  Empire  style, 
however,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  thought,  it  usually 
degenerates,  or  becomes  so  wearisome  as  to  be  sup- 
planted by  a  new  style.  Even  the  great  architecture  of 
the  Italian  Renaissance  saw  its  decadence  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  'Baroque.  The  Empire  style  was  no 
exception,  and  after  the  presence  of  Napoleon  was  no 
longer  felt  in  France,  Neo-  or  Ultra-Classicism  grad- 
ually died  out,  failing,  in  the  absence  of  that  first  glow 
of  enthusiasm  which  had  aided  its  initial  expression, 
to  create  works  of  sufficient  stylistic  spontaneity  to 
possess  lasting  characteristics. 

The  impetus  of  the  Classic  Eevival  had  swept  away 
much  of  the  official  influence  of  the  "Academic  School" 
of  architecture  which  had  begun  to  exert  national  in- 
fluence prior  to  the  period  of  Louis  XVI,  and  with  the 
decline  of  the  Empire  "  archaeological "  school,  the  Ecole 
Nationale  des  Beaux  Arts  began  to  take  definite  form, 
and  to  build  up  the  prestige  and  the  stylistic  formulae 
which  to  this  day  characterise  French  architecture,  and 
much  of  the  architecture  of  the  world. 

THE  CLASSIC  REVIVAL  IN  ENGLAND 

The  Classic  Revival  in  England  commenced  with 
the  Georgian  period  (1714^1820),  immediately  follow- 
ing the  Dutch  influences  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne, 
and  lasted,  though  waning  somewhat  in  its  Classicism 
toward  the  end,  until  the  beginning  of  the  Victorian 
era  in  1837. 

The  Eighteenth  Century  Classic  Revival  in  England 
reached  its  height  during  the  reigns  of  the  Georges, 
notably  in  the  works  of  the  Brothers  Adam  (1760-1820), 


THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL  85 

in  the  reign  of  George  III.  The  Adams,  however,  were 
not  the  first  architects  to  design  in  the  ' '  Classic  Taste. ' ' 

Following  Sir  Christopher  Wren  and  Inigo  Jones, 
the  great  English  Renaissance  architects  of  the  Jaco- 
bean period,  William  Kent,  who  died  in  1748,  produced 
works  which  were  more  in  the  nature  of  a  "Classic 
Revival"  than  of  the  style  of  the  Renaissance.  Kent's 
sources  of  inspiration,  moreover,  were  directly  re- 
ceived in  Italy,  and  both  Kent  and  a  contemporary, 
Gibbs,  produced  many  designs  closely  resembling  the 
work  of  the  later  Empire  period  in  France. 

No  English  architects,  however,  popularised  Classic 
forms  to  so  great  an  extent  as  the  Adams,  or  so  skilfully 
employed  antique  motifs  in  the  creation  of  modern 
buildings  and  furniture.  The  Classic  Taste  became  the 
height  of  fashion,  and,  guided  by  the  Classic  ideal  of 
dignity,  a  permanent  stamp  was  placed  upon  English 
architecture  which,  especially  in  city  buildings,  is  its 
characteristic  to-day. 

Classic  ideas  found  extensive  fashionable  accept- 
ance expressed  in  the  architectural  and  decorative 
paintings  of  Angelica  Kauffmann,  and  in  the  ' '  allegori- 
cal" English  portraits  of  the  day.  Parks  and  gardens 
conformed  with  the  Classic  trend  of  the  period,  with 
the  frequent  introduction  of  "garden  temples"  and 
Classic  statuary.  Sculptured  busts  in  hemispherical 
niches  were  characteristic  architectural  features,  and 
virtually  all  the  more  important  buildings,  whether 
ecclesiastical  or  secular,  public  or  domestic,  were  of 
the  "pediment  and  portico"  type,  with  Classic  columns. 
The  period  of  the  Classic  Revival  in  England  was  a 
period  of  very  earnest  architectural  effort,  resulting 
in  much  work  destined  to  exert  a  strong  influence  upon 
subsequent  architecture  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 


86   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

GEORGIAN  COLONIAL  IN  AMERICA 

With  such  widespread  enthusiasm  for  Classic  ideas 
in  architecture  in  England,  it  is  not  at  all  surprising 
that  this  should  have  crossed  the  ocean  to  the  American 
colonies,  creating  and  moulding  the  style  which  should 
accurately  be  called  "  Georgian  Colonial."  The 
"American  Classic  Revival"  was  a  distinctly  different 
development,  coming,  as  it  did,  largely  from  France, 
and  at  a  considerably  later  date  than  the  Georgian 
Classic  influences. 

The  Georgian  Colonial  architecture  of  America,  an 
extensive  study  in  itself,  will  come  under  more  detailed 
consideration  in  the  eighth  chapter.  It  is  important 
here  to  establish  its  connection  with]  the  Georgian 
Classic  Revival  in  England,  and  to  recognise  its  dis- 
tinction from  the  later  American  Classic  Revival. 

The  Georgian  Colonial  types  of  American  archi- 
tecture took  different  forms  in  the  North  and  the  South, 
especially  in  the  treatment  of  dwellings.  In  the  "North 
there  is  noticeable  a  great  Georgian  Classicism  of  detail, 
rather  than  of  general  form.  New  England  doorways, 
windows  and  interior  woodwork  followed  Classic  for- 
mulae, rendering  Palladian  windows  and  Greek  orders 
with  an  honest  carpenter's  technique. 

To  differentiate  the  types  of  Georgian  Colonial 
architecture  in  such  New  England  towns  as  Salem, 
Newport  and  Boston;  the  varieties  found  in  New  York, 
Philadelphia  and  Baltimore ;  those  still  further  south — 
this  cannot  be  attempted  in  a  cursory  manner. 

That  the  inspiration  of  the  Colonial  and  Early 
American  builders  came  directly  from  England  is  clear 
in  the  following  paragraphs  by  Mr.  Glenn  Brown,  from 
a  note  on  the  doorways  of  Salem,  Massachusetts. 

' l  The  best  work  in  Salem  covers  three  periods,  from 


THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL  87 

1745  to  1785  clearly  showing  the  influence  of  the  publi- 
cation (in  England)  of  Batty  Langley  in  1740,  a  work 
extensively  used  in  this  country.  The  title  of  the  work 
explains  the  character  of  its  information:  'Country 
Builders'  and  Workmen's  Treasury  of  Design,  or  the 
Art  of  Drawing  and  Working  the  Ornamental  Parts  of 
Architecture.' 

1 '  In  the  period  from  1785  to  1810  the  character  of  the 
work  reflects  the  influence  of  James  and  Robert  Adam, 
whose  books  on  interior  decoration  were  published  in 
1783  and  1786.  After  1800  we  see  the  effect  of  Revett 
and  Stuart's  publications,  which  were  issued  in  1788 
and  1794-1816,  as  in  this  period  Greek  influence  is 
clearly  reflected.  While  our  early  builders  made  free 
use  of  these  good  publications,  they  were  not  simply 
copyists.  They  showed  their  individuality  in  design 
and  their  good  taste  in  adaptation. ' ' 

There  were,  in  addition  to  the  works  mentioned  by 
Mr.  Brown,  many  others  of  like  character  and  varying 
degrees  of  architectural  merit.  Among  the  best  known 
of  these  American  Colonial  inspirations  was  "The 
Country  Builders'  Assistant,"  filled  with  carpenters' 
details  of  Georgian  doorways,  window  frames,  cornices 
and  interior  woodwork.  It  is  due  to  these  books  that 
Colonial  and  Early  American  architecture  developed 
consistently  and  with  a  high  general  level  of  merit,  over 
a  large  area  and  in  a  day  when  there  were  no  architec- 
tural schools  in  this  country,  no  great  teachers  as  in 
France,  and  no  ready  means  of  European  study  for  the 
aspiring  architectural  "apprentice."  It  is  remarkable 
that  by  far  the  greater  number  of  early  American 
buildings  were  the  work  of  carpenters,  and  were  done 
from  mere  sketches,  supplemented  by  details  carefully 
transcribed  from  these  precious  English  books.  The 


88   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

result  is  a  lasting  tribute  to  the  conscientious  love  for 
their  work  which  must  have  inspired  and  guided  these 
master-builders  of  Georgian  Colonial  times  in  America. 

THE  CLASSIC  REVIVAL  IN  AMERICA 

The  American  Classic  Revival,  as  distinct  from  the 
Georgian  Classic  inspiration,  came  about  largely 
through  the  development  of  friendly  relations  with 
France  and  the  distaste  for  things  English  during  the 
War  of  1812.  So  closely  allied,  indeed,  is  this  American 
Classic  Revival  to  the  contemporary  style  of  France, 
that  it  has  often  been  called ' '  American  Empire. ' '  The 
popularity  of  the  Ultra-Classic  left  a  number  of  inter- 
esting monuments  in  this  country,  of  which,  perhaps, 
the  purest  example  is  to  be  found  in  the  remaining  por- 
tion of  ''La  Grange  Terrace,"  on  Lafayette  Street, 
directly  below  Astor  Place  in  New  York  City,  and 
opposite  the  old  Astor  Library.  i '  La  Grange  Terrace, ' ' 
now  called  "Colonnade  Row,"  was  built  in  1836,  and 
comprised  eight  palatial  city  residences.  So  thor- 
oughly Classic  is  this  relic  of  the  "Revival,"  and  so 
essentially  typical  of  the  style  as  it  found  expression 
in  this  country,  that  the  stately  old  facade  repays  close 
study.  Despite  the  demolition  of  one-half  its  original 
form,  and  the  many  indignities  it  has  suffered  since  the 
time  when  it  was  the  centre  of  New  York  fashionable 
life,  it  retains  a  quality  of  dignity  which  is  its  inheri- 
tance from  Greece  itself,  from  the  immortal  architec- 
ture which,  in  ruins,  dominates  the  world  to-day. 

At  the  street-line  was  a  cast-iron  fence,  with  Greek 
anthemions.  The  shallow  porch  was  imposingly  flanked 
by  twin  pedestals,  on  which  stood  cast-iron  candelabra 
of  pure  Pompeian  form.  These  approaches  are  spoken 
of  in  the  past  tense  because  a  city  regulation  has 


Seth  Gcer,  Architect  A  Builder 

THE  "AMERICAN  EMPIRE"  STYLE,  A  PURE  EXAMPLE  OF  THE  GREEK  CLASSIC 

REVIVAL  IN  AMERICA 

The  large  columns  are  replicas  from  the  monument  of  Lysicrates  in  Athens,  the  entrance  intro- 
ducing a  pure  Greek  Doric  column,  with  French  Empire  wreaths  in  the  frieze,  and  iron 
candelabra  and  rail  of  Pompeian  design 

(Colonnade  Row,  New  York  City,  built  in  1836) 


THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL  89 

removed  them  as  " sidewalk  encroachments."  The 
facade  itself,  which  still  remains  nearly  intact,  is  of 
admirable  proportions  in  the  relation  of  base,  colon- 
nade and  entablature.  The  base,  after  the  manner  of 
contemporary  French  buildings,  is  of  "rusticated" 
stone-courses,  the  joints  strongly  emphasised,  and  the 
entrance  is  flanked  by  pure  Greek  Doric  columns,  set-in 
and  surmounted  by  an  abbreviated  entablature  deco- 
rated with  five  wreaths  of  pure  French  Empire  style. 

Like  the  French  city  house,  the  street  level  is  re- 
garded in  the  nature  of  a  basement — the  stately  draw- 
ing rooms  are  on  the  premier  etage,  or  first  flight. 
The  lofty  ceilings  of  these  great  rooms  on  the  premier 
etage  are  expressed  externally  by  the  height  of  the  win- 
dows, at  the  heads  of  which  appear,  again,  the  French 
Empire  wreaths.  This  embellishment,  furthermore, 
distinguishes  the  premier  etage  in  importance  from  the 
story  above  it.  The  walls  of  the  base  are  sufficiently 
thick  to  allow  of  a  narrow  gallery  and  the  placement 
of  the  tall  columns  directly  011  it  with  a  cast-iron  rail 
running  across  the  front. 

The  columns,  each  built  of  five  drums  of  solid  stone, 
are  superb  in  proportion,  the  detail  of  the  capitals 
being  a  direct  replica  of  the  Greek  Corinthian  monu- 
ment of  Lysicrates  in  Athens.  The  cornice  is  of  pure 
Classic  composition,  and  was  originally  crowned  by  a 
continuous  cresting  of  Greek  anthemions.  The  char- 
acter of  this  facade  has  been  considered  here  in  detail, 
because  it  illustrates  so  admirably  the  very  spirit  of 
the  Classic  Revival,  not  only  as  expressed  by  American 
builders,  but  also  typical  of  much  work  of  the  French 
Empire. 

Following  the  Classic  Revival  in  America,  taste  in 
architecture  and  taste  in  general  relapsed  into  the 


90   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

banalities  and  stupidities  of  the  mid- Victorian  period, 
from  which  it  was  not  to  emerge  until  the  early 
''nineties." 

THE  DECLINE  OP  THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL  IN  ENGLAND 

Eeturning  to  England,  the  Classic  Ideal  in  architec- 
ture is  found,  about  1815,  to  be  competing  with  a  pseudo- 
Gothic  revival,  and  with  a  spirit  of  restlessness  and 
eclecticism  which  resulted  in  an  architectural  chaos. 
Fortunately  the  imprint  of  Classicism  had  been  so 
strong,  continuing  through  the  reign  of  George  III 
(1820),  that  the  most  important  fundamentals  of  archi- 
tecture were  securely  implanted. 

The  height  of  the  Classic,  or  Greek  Revival  in  Eng- 
land, shortly  before  its  decline,  was  signalised  by 
several  important  architectural  publications  which 
profoundly  moved  popular  taste  as  well  as  architec- 
tural thought.  In  1762  "Antiquities  of  Athens/'  by 
Stuart  and  Eevett  appeared;  in  1764,  Robert  Adam's 
"Spalato";  in  1831,  Inwood's  "Erechtheion"—all 
works  which  had  the  effect  of  creating  an  intense 
admiration  for  pure  Greek  forms,  independently  of 
French  or  Italian  interpretations. 

With  the  decline  of  the  Classic  Revival  in  England, 
the  study  of  English  architecture,  excepting  in  the  prov- 
ince of  the  country  house,  becomes  a  matter  too  involved 
for  any  but  the  architect  or  the  critic,  and  the  conflict 
of  styles  and  tendencies  resulted  in  such  diversified 
effort  that  no  significant  influences  emanated  from  the 
British  Isles  throughout  the  Victorian  era. 

It  is  only  important  to  allude  to  the  Gothic  Revival 
which  was  inspired  by  the  writings  of  Ruskin  in  1851, 
as  well  as  by  the  writings  of  many  earlier  and  con- 
temporary architects  and  critics  who  held  similar 


THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL  91 

views.  Lacking  real  motive  power,  the  rather  ineffec- 
tual interest  in  Gothic  architecture  failed  to  produce 
any  great  works  (since  it  was  not  an  expression  of  the 
times),  yet  occupied  architectural  thought  in  England 
sufficiently  to  retard  and  almost  stop  the  further 
development  of  Classic  architecture. 

The  attempted  Gothic  Eevival  of  Ruskin  in  Eng- 
land is  interesting  to  the  architectural  " observer" 
in  this  country  chiefly  because  it  was  the  impulse  for 
the  fantastic  "carpenter's"  Gothic  which  left  so  many 
forlorn,  hybrid  traces  in  the  form  of  "Gothic- 
American"  country  houses.  The  type  is  familiar,  and 
many  have  wondered,  perhaps,  how  these  architectural 
curiosities  "happened"— wooden  houses  which  were 
nothing  better  than  parodies  of  the  "Gothic  Style" 
which  they  aspired  to  "express"  in  pointed  windows 
and  sharply  pointed  roofs,  from  which  hung  jig-sawed 
wooden  "tracery"  and  drop-ornaments.  "Gothic" 
details,  too  "fine"  (supposedly)  to  be  entrusted  to  the 
carpenter,  were  done  in  very  crudely  executed  iron 
castings,  often,  like  the  wooden  sculpture,  "sanded" 
to  represent  stone.  The  style  is  an  interesting  one  for 
several  reasons,  although,  architecturally,  it  is  "impos- 
sible" and  indefensible.  It  is  interesting  because  so 
many  examples  remain  in  and  about  the  more  prosper- 
ous cities  and  towns  of  the  United  States,  as  far  West 
as  Michigan,  and  because  it  so  forcefully  illustrates 
the  futility  of  an  artificial  rendering  of  an  artificial 
"revival,"  neither  rendering  nor  revival  half  under- 
stood, and  the  nature  and  expressiveness  of  style  and 
material  wilfully  or  blindly  ignored.  Carpenters  and 
contractors  who  carried  out  buildings  in  this  style  may 
have  been  ingenious,  but  certainly  were  not  intelligent. 

This  "Gothic"  aberration,  combined  with  an  ex- 


92      THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

tremely  poor  and  ill-considered  bourgeois  French 
architecture  of  the  "eighties,"  made  American  archi- 
tecture of  that  period  "an  imitation  of  something, 
which,  even  if  genuine,  would  be  undesirable."  It  is 
to  this  period  that  we  owe  the  sorrowfully  familiar 
"brownstone  front"  type  of  city  house,  and  the  country 
"mansion"  which  was  an  enormous  box  in  shape,  with 
an  ungraceful  rendering  of  the  steep  Mansard  roof, 
the  whole  crowned  with  a  strange  protuberance  like  a 
conning-tower,  entirely  without  purpose  in  itself,  or 
relation  to  the  building.  Builders  of  a  more  sprightly 
and  enterprising  turn  of  mind  erected,  for  their  wealthy 
clients,  or  (in  this  case)  victims — >a  strange  version  of 
the  Swiss  Chalet,  many  examples  of  which  still  exist, 
modestly  retired  behind  the  tall  trees  of  their  grounds. 
The  Classic  Ideal  was  forgotten,  no  other  style  was 
understood,  or  appreciated,  and  any  one  possessing  an 
architectural  consciousness  must,  at  this  time,  have 
despaired  of  the  future  of  American  architecture. 

THE  CLASSIC  REVIVAL  IN  GERMANY 

Early  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  'Berlin  and  Munich 
were  centres  of  a  powerful  Classic  Revival,  but  the 
German  rendering  of  Classic  forms  showed  more  vigor 
than  finesse,  and  more  archaeological  exactitude  than 
feeling.  Many  important  buildings  of  considerable 
magnitude  and  entirely  Classic  character,  in  both  Ger- 
many and  Austria,  such  as  the  Parliament  Buildings 
of  Berlin  and  Vienna,  testify  to  the  influence  once 
exerted  on  Teutonic  architecture  by  Classicism.  It  is 
strange,  however,  that  these,  and  other  buildings  of 
both  prior  and  subsequent  date,  fail  to  express  any  real 
or  absolute  architectural  conviction  on  the  part  of  their 
designers.  The  Classic  Ideal  was  a  "study,"  not  an 


THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL 

inspiration — there  was  not  the  spontaneity  or  entlmsi-x^ 
asm  in  the  Eevival  which  was  so  marked  in  France, 
and  so  much  more  evident  even  in  less-demonstrative 
England.  It  had  been  the  same  with  the  German  ren- 
derings  of  Renaissance  and  Gothic  architecture — the 
Germans  were  students  always,  and  failed  to  really 
identify  outside  architectural  styles  with  their  national 
scheme  of  creative  effort. 

No  past  style  was  so  characteristic  of  the  country 
as  the  essentially  modern  style,  which,  remotely  based 
on  certain  Classic  forms,  shows  likeness  to  no  works  of 
any  other  land,  and  seems  to  express,  for  the  most  part, 
a  certain  kind  of  "bigness"  which  is  the  attribute  of 
arrogance  rather  than  nobility.  This  thought  has  been 
admirably  expressed  in  a  comment  on  "Kultur  in 
Architecture"  by  Mr.  Guy  Study,  in  "The  Nation:" 

"  ...  There  are,  it  is  true,  two  schools  of  art 
in  Germany,  the  academic  and  the  modern.  The  aca- 
demic, which  still  clings  to  the  precious  heritage  of  the 
past,  is  a  school  formed  of  men  who  draw  their  inspira- 
tion from  the  sixteenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  and 
who  still  speak  the  same  beautiful  language  of  the  art 
of  Nuremberg  and  Rottenburg,  but  whose  influence 
unfortunately  is  negligible 

"It  is,  however,  the  modern  school  that  expresses  the 
real  culture  of  Germany.  Animated  by  the  restless 
impulse  that  has  moved  Germany  in  her  ambition  for 
world  power,  such  men  as  Bruno  Schmidtz  and  Kauf- 
mann  have  succeeded,  by  working  with  astonishing 
and  even  audacious  originality,  in  giving  the  nation  a 
new;  style  of  architecture  which  seems  to  have  been 
accepted  as  the  national  expression.  The  great  wave 
of  unrest  which  has  swept  over  Germany  has  so 
engulfed  the  nation  that  a  complete  upheaval  in  art  has 


94   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

taken  place ;  the  very  foundations  of  the  past  have  been 
erased,  and  we  find  a  strange  new  art,  with  touches  of 
the  mysticism  of  the  East  and  possessing  much  daring 
cleverness,  imagination,  and  a  strong  artistic  quality. 
In  it  there  is  unquestionably  the  evidence  of  power  and 
of  a  great  restless  vital  force ;  indeed,  it  is  the  expres- 
sion of  an  arrogant,  conceited  people  whose  ideals  are 
foreign  to  either  the  Latin  or  Anglo-Saxon  race.  But 
is  it  art  with  that  eternal  quality  that  has  marked  the 
great  epochs  of  the  past?  Do  we  find  in  modern  Ger- 
man architecture  that  spirit  of  truth,  that  quiet,  natural 
expression  of  an  enduring  power  which  is  the  uncon- 
scious possession  of  true  greatness?  These  attributes 
are  felt  among  the  columns  of  Karnak,  upon  the  Acrop- 
olis, and  in  the  Forum;  but  what  is  felt  before  such 
gigantic  monstrosities  as  the  Bismarck  or  the  Leipzig 
monument,  whose  sole  claim  upon  us  is  their  over- 
powering bulk!  .  .  ." 

THE  BEAUX  AETS  SCHOOL 

Eeturning  to  France  at  a  time  when  architecture  in 
England  and  America,  and  (for  that  matter)  in  France 
itself,  was  in  a  state  more  " chaotic"  than  " transi- 
tional," there  could  be  perceived  to  be  growing  up  a 
gigantic  influence.  This  influence,  condemned  on 
several  scores  by  many  critics,  was  destined  to  play 
a  tremendous  dual  part  in  modern  architecture — a  part 
which  no  intelligent  observer  can  ignore  or  belittle. 
It  was  destined,  first,  to  raise  the  scattered  remains  of 
architectural  tradition,  Classic  and  Renaissance,  from 
out  of  the  quicksands  of  decadence  into  which  they  had 
strayed,  and,  welding  Classic  and  Renaissance  into  a 
definite  composite,  powerfully  and  rationally  mould 
the  architectural  thought  of  the  civilised  world. 


THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL  95 

This  great  influence  was  the  French  Ecole  Nationale 
des  Beaux  Arts,  and  the  style  of  its  architecture  can  be 
called  neither  Classic  (though  based  on  many  Classic 
fundamentals)  nor  Renaissance  (though  characterised 
by  many  Renaissance  forms) — but  " Beaux  Arts,"  a 
type  of  architectural  design  of  distinct  characteristics. 

Because  the  teachings  of  the  Beaux  Arts  have  placed 
upon  all  modern  architecture  a  permanent  stamp,  it  is 
important  to  possess  a  distinct  grasp  of  the  Beaux 
Arts  idea.  The  following  exposition  and  a  study  of  the 
illustrations  will  enable  the  architectural  observer  to 
perceive  wherein  Classic  forms  play  an  important  part, 
and  wherein  Renaissance  forms  play  an  important  part, 
and  will  be  able,  as  well,  to  discern  not  only  the  'Beaux 
Arts  blending  of  these  two  elements,  but  also  the  addi- 
tional traits,  devices  and  inventions  peculiar  to  the 
school  itself. 

Beaux  Arts  architecture  is  the  result  not  only  of  a 
school  of  thought,  but  also  of  certain  kind  of  study. 
A  conception  of  this  is  essential  at  the  outset.  The 
students  are  required  to  develop  their  "  pro  jets"  or 
drawings  for  imaginary  buildings,  from  the  plan,  and 
the  plan  must,  in  all  cases  be  symmetrical  and  laid  out 
on  axes.  Axis  in  a  plan  is  the  centre-line  of  any  of  the 
important  masses  of  the  building.  There  may  be  sev- 
eral axes — two  of  main  importance  and  any  number  of 
subsidiary  axes.  The  two  principal  axes  are  those  run- 
ning the  length  of  the  building  and  the  depth  of  the 
building.  With  these  as  a  starting  point,  perfect  sym- 
metry must  result. 

Observation  of  any  large  building,  such  as  the  New 
York  Public  Library,  will  disclose  the  entire  theory  of 
planning  on  axis,  and  a  grasp  of  the  theory  will  show 
that  such  axial  planning  possesses  the  merit  of  reason 


96       THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

and  logic,  and  guarantees  a  well-studied  relationship 
not  only  of  the  parts  of  the  building  itself,  but  of  all  its 
approaches,  as  well  as  adjacent  buildings. 

The  central  axis,  for  example,  of  the  front  of  the 
building,  will  be  devised  to  centre  on  the  avenue  leading 
toward  it,  so  that  the  building  will  bear  a  studied  rela- 
tion to  its  site.  This  axis  will  also  dictate  the  layout  of 
the  immediate  approaches  or  terraces,  the  disposition 
of  rows  of  trees  or  avenues  of  statuary.  A  fountain, 
or  a  large  group  of  statuary,  would  be  placed  directly 
on  this  central  axis  or  would  be  duplicated  for  place- 
ment on  each  side.  Minor  exterior  features  would  be 
balanced  on  the  minor  axes  of  the  f  agade,  and  the  result 
would  naturally  be  one  of  absolute  symmetry. 

It  may  be  said  that  symmetry  is  virtually  an  essen- 
tial of  all  large  buildings,  architecturally  termed 
"monumental"  buildings,  and  for  this  reason,  modern 
architecture  owes  much  to  the  Beaux  Arts  insistence 
on  axial  plans.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  this  pro- 
cedure in  planning  was  originated  in  the  ateliers  of 
the  Beaux  Arts.  Greek,  and  even  Egyptian,  architec- 
ture was  based  on  ideas  of  symmetry,  and  the  plan  of 
the  Eoman  Baths  of  Caracalla  was  a  typical  "Beaux 
Arts ' '  plan,  with  a  perfectly  articulated  system  of  axes 
and  subsidiary  axes. 

The  great  French  school,  however,  deserves  the 
distinction  of  having  made  symmetry  an  absolute  archi- 
tectural law  and  the  essential  requirement  of  a  building 
in  the  first  stages  of  its  development. 

The  Beaux  Arts  has  its  critics  and  opponents,  and 
one  of  the  principal  faults  to  which  they  point  in  the 
Beaux  Arts  teachings  is  this  insistence  on  symmetry. 
The  contention  is  that  this  insistence  breeds  an  "arti- 
ficial" or  "paper"  architecture,  that,  for  the  sake  of 


THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL  97 

symmetry  rather  than  for  expression  of  the  require- 
ments of  the  building,  a  Beaux  Arts  architect  must 
needs  add,  for  example,  an  entire  wing,  or  devise  an 
unnecessary  "East  Court"  to  balance  a  necessary 
"West  Court"  in  the  plan.  This  criticism  is  valid  up 
to  a  certain  point,  but  it  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the 
most  violent  opponents  of  Beaux  Arts  architecture  have 
never  offered  a  suggestion  for  any  better  or  more  logi- 
cal manner  of  planning  large  buildings.  It  is  true  that 
axial  planning  may  result  in  an  unnecessary  and  arti- 
ficial development  of  a  building,  but  it  is  equally  true 
that  an  able  graduate  of  the  Beaux  Arts  is  capable  of 
producing  a  symmetrical  plan  which  is  also  a  logical 
and  economical  one.  Whatever  offences  may  have 
been  committed  by  Beaux  Arts  architectural  formulae, 
the  fact  must  remain  that  architecture  in  general  is 
incalculably  the  gainer  in  the  great  majority  of  cases. 
At  a  time  when  architectural  chaos  reigned,  the  great 
Ecole  stepped  in  and  constituted  itself  the  Law,  and 
established  a  code  of  rules  in  design  which  have,  ever 
since,  beneficially  guided  the  main  elements  of  archi- 
tectural design. 

No  architecture,  no  art,  no  philosophy  or  religion 
which  is  bigoted,  and  which  aspires  to  domination  and 
absolutism  is  a  desirable  one.  A  school  of  architecture 
should  be  a  fountain-head  of  inspiration,  a  court  of 
resort  on  matters  of  form  and  procedure,  and  may,  by 
reason  of  the  merit  of  its  teachings,  widely  and  per- 
manently mould  the  thought  of  many  countries,  whither 
return  the  students  to  practise  who  have  come  to  learn. 

It  cannot  fairly  be  said  that  the  school  of  the  Beaux 
Arts  has  sought  to  dominate.  Its  aim  has  been,  rather, 
to  inspire  and  direct,  and  to  implant  in  the  minds  of  its 
students  an  impression  of  the  importance  of  symmetry. 

7 


98   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

Beaux  Arts  detail,  of  which  we  shall  speak  pres- 
ently, may  often  be  forgotten,  or  replaced  by  forms 
more  appropriate  to  other  countries,  but  the  theory  of 
Beaux  Arts  planning  is  basic,  and  underlies  the  whole 
structure  of  architecture.  It  is  a  later  expression  of 
the  Classic  Greek  ideal  of  order. 

Having  developed  a  symmetrical  plan,  the  student 
perceives,  in  designing  from  it  the  elevation  or 
facade  of  his  building,  that  this,  of  necessity,  is  also 
symmetrical,  and  that  all  the  important  masses  are  so 
related  as  to  balance  each  other  in  a  manner  at  once 
agreeable  and  logical.  Excellent  American  examples 
of  the  Beaux  Arts  type  of  f agade  for  monumental  build- 
ings are  to  be  seen  in  New  York  in  such  buildings  as  the 
Public  Library,  the  Metropolitan  Museum,  the  Customs 
House,  the  new  Post  Office  and  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road station  (the  last  named,  however,  bearing  no 
relation  in  style  to  Beaux  Arts  architecture). 

Combined  with  fundamental  ideas  of  Classic  order 
and  symmetry,  the  Beaux  Arts  school  developed,  as 
well,  a  certain  distinct  French  quality  of  gaiety  and,  at 
times,  even  frivolity.  The  style,  for  this  reason,  has 
always  seemed  admirably  suitable  for  exposition  build- 
ings, casinos,  music-halls,  theatres  and  similar  build- 
ings. A  peculiar  fault  of  Beaux  Arts  architecture  has 
frequently  been  that  of  counteracting  the  dignity  of 
general  conception  and  composition  by  the  introduction 
of  distinctly  frivolous  detail,  so  that  banks,  courthouses 
or  other  buildings  in  which  the  expression  of  dignity 
is  essential,  have  avoided  the  style,  as  an  unsafe  archi- 
tectural medium.  This  frivolity  of  detail,  at  once  an 
attractive  and  detractive  feature  of  Beaux  Arts  archi- 
tecture, has  given  the  hostile  critics  another  weapon, 
and  one  of  which  they  have  amply  availed  themselves. 


THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL  99 

In  detail  there  will  be  found,  in  the  Beaux  Arts 
school,  an  admirable  insistence  on  adherence  to  Classic 
proportions  for  columns  and  entablatures,  and  insis- 
tence, as  well,  on  such  devices  as  accentuating  the  base 
of  a  building  by  ''rusticating"  the  stone  courses,  and 
accentuating  the  central  part  of  the  building  by  a 
massing  of  extravagant  detail  to  create  architectural 
"interest."  Beyond  a  few  such  strict  rules  as  these, 
however,  great  license  in  detail  has  characterised  nearly 
all  Beaux  Arts  architects,  often  to  the  serious  detri- 
ment of  their  works.  Together  with  many  extravagant 
forms,  however,  there  were  developed  also  many  forms 
of  permanent  architectural  merit. 

In  style,  'Beaux  Arts  detail  drew  its  inspiration  from 
Classic  sources,  from  Renaissance  forms,  and  from  cer- 
tain forms  characteristic  of  the  Classic  Revival  of 
Louis  XVI,  and  of  designers  in  earlier  reigns.  A 
certain  gay  exuberance  and  cursive  freedom  are  appa- 
rent. Mouldings  and  all  other  profiles  are  very ' '  full. ' y 
Flat  curves  and  low  relief  are  by  no  means  frequent, 
and  on  every  fagade  there  is  a  profusion  of  cartouches, 
consoles,  garlands,  elaborate  key-blocks,  lions'  heads, 
and,  often,  naturalistic  ornament.  Mixed  with  these 
may  be  such  forms  as  the  chaste  Greek  fret  ornament, 
elliptical  windows  and  the  refined  "guilloche"  orna- 
ment of  Louis  XVI,  and  Classic  pediments. 

This  feature  however — the  pediment,  especially  as 
employed  on  dormer  windows,  usually  takes  sinuous 
forms,  and  balustrades  or  roof  lines  are  a  favourite 
location  for  sculptured  urns,  often  with  a  conventional 
flame. 

Ornamental  iron  work,  in  the  form  of  grilles  and 
railings,  is  conspicuous  in  the  Beaux  Arts  fagade,  and 
this  is  designed  in  the  most  cursive  and  flowing  charac- 


100  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

ter  possible.  Another  characteristic  metal  embellish- 
ment on  which  French  designers  of  this  school  have 
lavished  a  wealth  of  fertile  ingenuity  and  graceful 
detail  is  the  marquise,  or  iron-and-glass  hood  projecting 
over  a  doorway  as  a  rain-shelter  on  entering. 

Architectural  sculpture  of  the  Beaux  Arts  school 
departed  from  earlier  conceptions  of  conventionality, 
and  became  naturalistic  to  a  degree.  The  nude  gained 
favour  in  pediment  and  spandril  treatments,  as  well  as 
in  placements  more  detached  from  the  actual  design. 
The- fountain  figures  flanking  the  central  portico  of  the 
New  York  Public  Library  illustrate  this  modern  French 
concept  of  architectural  sculpture,  and  are,  for  that 
reason,  perfectly  in  keeping  with  the  distinctly  ''Beaux 
Arts"  character  of  the  building. 

Although  the  School  has  taught  the  importance  of 
"scale"  among  its  fundamental  precepts,  many  Beaux 
Arts  students  seem  to  have  disregarded  it,  and  exag- 
gerated scale  in  detail  has  marred  many  buildings  of 
this  style  which  might  otherwise  have  possessed  distinct 
merit. 

We  find  then,  on  summarising,  that  Beaux  Arts 
architecture  begins  with  the  symmetrical  plan,  laid  out 
on  axes,  carries  this  plan  out  in  the  elevation,  and, 
while  adhering  to  logical  proportions  of  mass,  allows 
too  great  freedom  in  detail.  This  detail,  while  derived 
from  sources  Classic,  Italian  and  Louis  XVI,  usually 
lacks  Classic  chastity,  Italian  romance  or  Louis  XVI 
refinement,  yet  possesses  certain  positive  architectural 
qualities  eminently  appropriate  for  certain  types  of 
buildings. 

The  type,  for  example,  is  not  so  well  suited  to  the 
narrow  fagade  of  a  city  residence  as  the  style  of  the 
Italian  Renaissance.  On  a  large  fagade,  the  exagger- 


THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL  101 

ated  peculiarities  of  Beaux  Arts  detail  are  not  so  appar- 
ent, and  are  overlooked  in  the  magnitude  of  the  larger 
aspects  of  a  monumental  building.  Nearly  all  city 
house  facades,  however,  in  a  thorough  rendering  of  the 
Beaux  Arts  style,  resemble  portions  of  some  larger 
building,  sliced  off  and  crowded  into  a  city  lot.  This 
is  a  fault  in  scale,  and,  perhaps,  one  of  the  greatest 
faults  to  be  found  with  the  style. 

Many  leading  American  architects  have  studied  at 
the  great  Ecole  Nationale  des  Beaux  Arts  in  Paris,  and 
have  brought  back  with  them  the  most  important  parts 
of  its  teachings.  In  most  cases,  they  have  made  far 
more  use  of  the  larger  precepts  of  planning  and  com- 
position than  of  the  detail.  In  the  work  of  certain 
firms  and  individuals  a  distinct  process  of  architectural 
procedure  has  been  apparent  in  a  close  observation 
of  their  works.  Directly  upon  their  return  from  the 
school,  and  their  commencement  of  practice,  they  de- 
signed buildings  which  were  entirely  French  and 
entirely  ' '  Beaux  Arts ' '  in  every  detail.  Gradually  the 
detail  was  modified  or  abandoned,  and  in  some  cases 
the  entire  outward  aspect  of  Beaux  Arts  architecture 
disappeared,  leaving  only  the  great  deeply-instilled 
principles  of  "order,"  while  the  "style"  changed 
entirely  to  Italian  or  Georgian  English  character. 

That  American  architects  who  have  studied  in  Paris 
are  convinced  of  the  real  benefits  which  they  derived 
from  the  School,  is  evidenced  by  their  foundation  of 
the  American  Society  of  Beaux  Arts  Architects,  who 
meet  periodically  to  renew  in  reminiscence  the  pic- 
turesque side  of  their  younger  "atelier"  days  in  the 
Latin  Quarter,  and  award  scholarships  and  prizes  for 
student  "pro jets"  submitted  by  ambitious  architec- 
tural draughtsmen  from  many  parts  of  the  country. 


102    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

Many  features  of  the  Beaux  Arts  idea  of  teaching 
form  the  frame-work  of  our  college  courses  in  archi- 
tecture, and  in  such  instances  as  the  Massachusetts 
Institute  of  Technology  and  Harvard,  French  grad- 
uates of  the  Beaux  Arts  moulded  the  entire  system 
of  thought  and  instruction.  M.  Despradelle,  so  long 
the  great  leading  spirit  of  Technology,  has  been  dead 
several  years;  M.  Duquesne  of  Harvard  directs  the 
teaching  in  Cambridge  to-day. 

Evidences  of  Beaux  Arts  teaching  are  widely  and 
prominently  distributed,  and  many  buildings  which,  at 
first  glance,  might  be  thought  of  directly  Classic  deriva- 
tion will  be  found  inseparably  to  combine,  as  well,  the 
ever-recurrent  and  pervasive  influence  of  the  Beaux 
Arts,  which  is  conspicuous,  too,  in  South  America,  in 
the  more  important  buildings  of  Buenos  Aires  and 
Mexico  City. 

The  illustrations  show  examples  which  have  been 
chosen  by  reason  of  their  direct  expression  of  Beaux 
Arts  traits. 

The  two  details  of  the  Grand  Palais  des  Champs- 
Elysees,  in  Paris,  depict  admirably  certain  traits  of 
detail,  illustrating  the  fantasy  and  disproportionate 
scale  so  often  met  with,  as  well  as  a  typical  introduc- 
tion of  naturalistic  sculpture.  The  "motif*  from  the 
main  fa§ade  shows,  again,  this  fondness  for  naturalis- 
tic, rather  than  Classic  sculpture,  as  well  as  the  profuse 
mingling  of  divers  details  of  divers  origins.  The  ellip- 
tical medallion,  with  garlands,  is  reminiscent  of  Louis 
XVI,  though  more  florid,  the  grotesque  masque  recall- 
ing, if  anything,  the  Italian  Renaissance.  Further  in- 
spiration from  the  Italian  Renaissance  is  apparent  in 
the  background,  yet  the  whole  is  typically  a  product  of 
the  Beaux  Arts — the  Modern  School  of  French  Archi- 


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PARIS    IN    NEW    YORK— A  DIRECT  FRENCH  BEAUX-ARTS  INSPIRA- 
TION IN  THE  DESIGN  FOR  A  FIFTH  AVENUE  SHOP  FRONT 
The  entire  treatment,  both  in  general  design  and  in  every  detail, is  essentially 
in  the  style  called  "Modern  French" 


THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL  103 

lecture.  The  building  from  which  these  interesting  de- 
tails are  taken — the  Grand  Palais  des  Champs-Elysees 
— was  built  at  the  time  of  the  Exposition  Universelle,  in 
1900,  and  is  the  work  of  several  collaborating  architects. 

In  this  country  three  thoroughly  illustrative  exam- 
ples are  shown.  The  first,  the  New  York  Public 
Library,  designed  by  a  firm  of  American  architects  of 
which  both  members  were  Beaux  Arts  students,  is  an 
excellent  example  of  the  symmetrical  fa§ade  of  the 
monumental  type  of  building,  developed  from  an  axial 
plan.  The  entire  feeling  of  this  building,  in  plan, 
composition  and  detail,  is  distinctly  of  Beaux  Arts 
character,  and,  perhaps,  might  be  called  an  example  of 
the  better  influence  of  the  modern  French  School.  The 
second,  a  jeweller's  shop  (now  a  parfumerie)  on  Fifth 
Avenue,  New  York  City,  is  unequalled  as  a  "  con- 
densed" epitome  of  Modern  French  architecture, 
comprising  as  it  does,  in  such  small  compass,  so  many 
salient  Beaux  Arts  features. 

Over  the  entrance  flares  a  metal  and  glass  marquise, 
of  freedom  almost  suggesting  the  contours  of  an  "  Art 
Nouveau"  creation.  The  balcony  above,  with  its  sin- 
uous iron  rail,  is  supported  on  console  brackets  thor- 
oughly "Beaux  Arts,"  and  the  centre  is  marked  by  the 
inevitable  "cartouche."  The  characteristic  curved 
pediment  springs  from  two  elongated  consoles,  and 
above  the  window  is  the  elliptical  medallion  so  favoured 
under  Louis  XVI,  though  rendered  in  the  modern  vein. 
The  treatment  behind  the  pediment,  as  well  as  the  finial 
urns  on  pedestals,  shows  the  same  rendering  of  architec- 
tural forms  of  Louis  XVI  origin,  but  the  entire  facade 
is  thoroughly  and  entirely  "Modern  French"  in  its 
design,  and  "Beaux  Arts"  in  its  detail.  As  an  indi- 
cation of  the  frequent  use  of  Greek  forms  in  this  school 


104    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

of  design,  combined  with  forms  of  the  utmost  modern- 
ity, note  should  be  made  of  the  "egg-and-dart"  orna- 
ment in  the  pediment  moulding. 

The  third  example  comprises  in  the  design  of  a 
broad  city  house  facade  in  New  York  a  profusion  of 
Beaux  Arts  details,  and  affords  a  fair  idea  of  the  more 
undesirable  features  and  qualities  of  the  style.  It  is 
true  that  this  facade,  despite  its  many  offences  against 
the  canons  of  Classic  architecture,  gives  a  certain  super- 
ficial impression  of  "smartness"  and  urbanity.  In 
the  florid  supports  beneath  the  balcony  over  the  door, 
there  is  evidence  of  the  occasional  reversion  of  Modern 
French  architecture  to  Louis  XV  Eococo,  while  the 
balcony  rail  immediately  above  it  makes  use  of  the 
refined  "guilloche"  motif  of  Louis  XVI.  Elsewhere 
are  to  be  discerned  traces  of  Italian  and  French  Renais- 
sance forms,  while  the  device  of  breaking  the  third- 
story  window  up  into  the  entablature  is  illustrative  of 
that  fatal  license  which  destroys  the  merit  of  many 
otherwise  excellent  works  of  Beaux  Arts  origin  or 
inspiration.  It  will  be  observed  that  the'  "French 
manner"  has  been  followed  in  the  exterior  expression 
of  the  importance  of  the  rooms  on  the  " premier  etage," 
and  the  rusticated,  almost  severe  base  of  the  building, 
which  blossoms  into  exuberant  festivity  above  the 
street  level  story. 

From  the  foregoing  observations  on  the  merits  and 
defects  of  Beaux  Arts  architecture,  and  from  a  study 
of  the  illustrations  presented  in  this  connection,  it  will 
be  possible  to  discern  in  many  American  buildings  the 
important  part  which  the  great  school  has  played  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  to  more  understandingly 
appreciate  the  opposition  which  has  been  offered  to 


MODERN  FRENCH  ARCHITECTURE  EXEMPLIFIED  IN  A  NEW  YORK  CITY  HOUSE 

A  facade  which  illustrates  the  merits  as  well  as  the  faults  of  modern  French  architecture,  and 
shows,  as  well,  a  great  variety  of  typical  architectural  forms  and  Beaux-Arts  devices 


Carrere  &  Hustings,  Architects 

AN    EXAMPLE    OF    CLASSIC    INSPIRATION    IN    A    MONUMENTAL 

BUILDING  ESSENTIALLY  OF  BEAUX-ARTS  DESIGN 

Columns  partly  built  into  a  wall,  as  here,  are  called  "engaged  columns" 

(The  New  York  Public  Library) 


THE  CLASSIC  IDEAL  105 

Modern  French  architecture  by  the  exponents  of  pure 
Italian  styles. 

It  was  said  in  a  previous  paragraph  that,  excepting 
in  the  works  of  the  Classic  Revival  or  "  American 
Empire, ' '  Classic  derivations  unmixed  with  Beaux  Arts 
influences,  are  rarely  met  with  in  American  architec- 
ture. This,  in  a  measure,  is  true,  though  designs  of 
direct  Classic  inspiration  are  usually  met  with  in  bank 
buildings,  certain  libraries  and  art  museums,  and  in 
such  mausoleums  as  Grant's  Tomb  in  New  York  City. 

Classic  inspiration,  it  is  true,  underlies  nearly  all 
the  monumental  buildings  in  this  country,  whether  the 
actual  rendering  follows  the  character  of  the  Modern 
French  School,  or  the  Renaissance  Italian  School. 

The  Classic  Ideal  in  architecture,  and  Classic  forms, 
have  endured  many  architectural  developments,  but 
through  the  Renaissance,  through  the  Classic  Revival 
and  through  the  Modern  French  or  'Beaux  Arts  School, 
have  always  proved  to  possess  qualities  greater  and 
more  potent  than  the  stylistic  movements  which  have 
sought  to  adopt  or  re-mould  them. 

And  it  is  safe  to  predict  that  Classic  forms,  through 
future  cycles  of  architectural  evolution,  will  retain  their 
immortal  qualities  when  other  architectural  forms  have 
been  forgotten,  and  that  "Classic  Derivations"  will 
be  apparent  in  the  architecture  of  successive  future 
centuries — for  the  genius  of  the  ancient  Greeks  has  lost 
none  of  its  significance  in  the  centuries  which  have 
passed  since  the  golden  age  of  Hellenism. 

The  design  of  the  following  chapter  is  to  aid  in 
discerning  what  part  in  American  architecture  has  been 
played  by  the  Byzantine  and  Romanesque  styles,  and 
by  that  remarkable  fabric  of  the  Middle  Ages,  called 
the  Gothic  style, 


CHAPTER  V 

BYZANTINE,  ROMANESQUE  AND  GOTHIC 
DERIVATIONS 

THE  "  ROMANESQUE  REVIVAL  "  IN  AMERICA.  THE  PLACE  OF 
ROMANESQUE  STYLES  IN  THE  ARCHITECTURE  OF  TO-DAY. 
GOTHIC  DERIVATIONS,  ECCLESIASTICAL,  COLLEGIATE, 
MILITARY  AND  SECULAR,  IN  AMERICA. 

TO  group  American  architectural  derivations  of 
Byzantine,  Romanesque  and  Gothic  styles,  is  to 
establish  a  triology  which  might  be  said  to  be  logical 
only  in  that  these  historic  types  have  played  but  a 
partial  role  in  the  stylistic  expression  of  architecture 
in  America. 

A  brief  consideration  of  the  Byzantine  and  Roman- 
esque styles  will  recall  a  past  phase  of  architectural 
inspiration  in  this  country,  but  a  phase  which  left  a 
great  many  important  monuments,  destined  to  endure 
for  a  long  time  to  come — buildings  both  ecclesiastical 
and  secular.  And  in  ecclesiastical  architecture,  the 
Byzantine  and  Romanesque  styles  are  distinctly  to  be 
reckoned  with  to-day  as  an  important  factor  in  the 
inspiration  of  our  church  architects. 

A  brief  consideration  of  the  Gothic  derivations  and 
adaptations  in  American  architecture  will  outline  the 
very  important  part  played  by  that  great  mediaeval 
style  in  ecclesiastical  architecture,  as  well  as  the  lesser 
part  it  has  played  in  some  secular  types  of  building. 

The  acquaintance  formed  with  Byzantine  architec- 
ture in  the  second  chapter  of  this  book  will  recall  that 
it  was  a  style  developed  by  the  early  Christians,  con- 
siderably after  the  fall  of  Rome  (with  the  temporary 

106 


McKim,  M i-iid  &  White,  Architects 

ROMANESQUE  DERIVATION  OF  THE  ROMAN  TYPE 
A  brink  church  in  New  York  City,  the  dome  of  tile,  the  pediment 
figures  of  terra-cotta,  and  the  shafts  of  the  Roman  Corinthian 
columns  of  granite 


H.  H.  Kiclmnlson,  Architect 

THE  MOST  NOTABLE  MONUMENT  OF  "  ROMA  NESQUE  REVIVAL"  IN  AMERICA 
Trinity  Church,  in  Hosum,  Massachusetts,  marked  a  turning  point  in  the  architectural  thought 

of  the  country 


ROMANESQUE  DERIVATIONS  107 

oblivion  of  Classic  architecture)  and  considerably 
before  the  development  of  the  Gothic  style.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  Byzantine  architecture  was  charac- 
terised by  the  round  arch  springing  from  short,  clus- 
tered columns,  that  the  arches,  as  well  as  the  basket- 
shaped  capitals  of  the  columns,  were  treated  with 
carving  which  was  of  a  curiously  primitive,  but  highly 
decorative  character.  Mosaic  decoration  was  largely 
used,  and  the  dome,  not  the  vault,  was  the  covering  of 
important  structures,  such  as  Ste.  Sophia  in  Constanti- 
nople, and  St.  Mark's  in  Venice. 

It  will  be  remembered,  further,  that  Romanesque 
architecture,  developing  the  vault  system  of  roofing, 
led  directly  to  the  great  Gothic  style.  Romanesque 
architecture,  at  its  best,  was  by  way  of  being  a  hybrid 
style,  a  transitional  style,  and  a  style  never  fully  devel- 
oped. It  was  a  style  of  uneven  merit,  different  parts 
of  -the  same  building  often  seeming  architecturally 
meagre,  ill-studied,  barren  and  stupid,  and  others, 
at  the  same  time,  architecturally  rich,  intricate,  colour- 
ful and  interesting. 

In  considering  the  development  in  American  archi- 
tecture which  has  been  called  the  "  Romanesque  Re- 
vival," one  must  accept  the  designation  as  embracing 
Byzantine  derivations  as  well,  and  the  ''Revival,"  it  is 
safe  to  say,  might  well  have  permanently  and  per- 
vasively moulded  the  character  of  architectural  design 
in  this  country,  had  not  a  "Renaissance  Revival" 
supplanted  it,  as  will  be  seen  later. 

Let  us  consider  the  status  of  "  style"  in  American 
architecture  about  1870.  If  '  *  style ' '  it  could  be  called, 
we  should  be  loth,  in  any  event,  to  call  it  "American." 
The  influence  of  the  "Classic  Revival"  of  the  dawn  of 
that  century  had  died  out  even  before  1836,  when 


108    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

"Colonnade  Row"  was  built  in  New  York  City,  and 
inspiration  came,  for  the  most  part,  from  the  most 
debased  and  bourgeois  type  of  contemporary  French 
architecture,  or  from  misguided,  unintelligent  follow- 
ers of  Ruskin.  The  first  inspiration  created  such 
monuments  of  architectural  stupidity  and  vulgarity 
as  the  "brownstone  front"  type  of  city  residence,  dis- 
mally familiar  to  anyone  who  has  traversed  the  side 
streets  of  New  York,  Brooklyn,  or  other  similar  East- 
ern cities.  It  created,  also,  those  great  country  and 
suburban  houses  usually  alluded  to  as  "mansions" — • 
great  square  boxes,  with  a  hideously  mishandled  man- 
sard roof  and  a  "tower"  or  "cupola,"  which,  with  the 
whole  horrible  ensemble,  was  regarded  as  an  index  of 
wealth  and  social  status. 

The  Gothic  effort,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  third 
chapter,  produced  architectural  aberrations  no  less  dis- 
mal, and  even  more  architecturally  illogical  and  struct- 
urally dishonest.  The  country  was  in  dire  need  of 
some  great  architectural  revelation — some  great  archi- 
tectural light.  Ruskin 's  "Seven  Lamps  of  Architec- 
ture ' '  conspicuously  failed  to  shed  even  a  faint  glimmer 
of  light  in  the  Cimmerian  darkness  in  which  every  hope 
of  clear  or  intelligent  architectural  vision  seemed  to 
be  plunged. 

The  light  which  appeared  at  this  juncture  came  in 
the  person  of  one  of  the  greatest  American  architects — 
H.  H.  Richardson,  great  because  his  architectural  vision 
was  clear  and  intelligent,  his  architectural  intention 
definite  and  sincere,  his  architectural  reasoning  sound 
and  enlightened. 

The  great  Romanesque  Revival  which  he  led  became 
first  conspicuous  with  the  publication  of  his  perspective 
drawing  of  the  splendid  tower  of  Trinity  Church  in 


ROMANESQUE  DERIVATIONS  109 

Boston,  which  appeared  in '  *  The  New  York  Sketch  Book 
of  Architecture ' '  in  1874.  The  church  may  be  considered 
as  the  first  monument  of  the  Romanesque  Revival, 
and  it  stands  to-day  as  an  expression  of  American 
architectural  ability  of  the  highest  order.  It  is  true 
that  the  decade  from  1880  to  1890  witnessed  the  erection 
of  a  great  many  important  buildings  of  architectural 
inconsistency,  not  to  say  architectural  insanity,  equalled 
by  the  structures  of  no  other  country  or  no  other  period, 
although  the  Romanesque  idea  held  its  place  as  a 
guiding  light. 

One  architect,  no  matter  how  great,  could  not  at 
once  mould  the  architectural  thought  of  so  great  a 
country,  and  the  really  remarkable  thing  is  that 
"Richardsonian  Romanesque"  (as  it  soon  came  to  be 
called)  exerted  such  a  widespread  influence.  Richard- 
son demonstrated  that  the  style  might  successfully  be 
handled  as  a  medium  for  the  design  of  churches,  rail- 
road stations,  business  buildings,  educational  buildings 
and  private  houses  in  city  and  country.  He  had  many 
imitators  and  copiers,  but  a  far  greater  number  of 
sincere  and  admiring  followers,  who  welcomed  the  great 
Romanesque  Revival  as  the  dawn  of  a  new  and  hopeful 
architectural  era. 

The  late  Montgomery  Schuyler,  architectural  critic, 
writing  even  in  1891,  saw  an  assimilated  and  "revised" 
Romanesque  as  the  future  ' '  American  Style ' '  of  archi- 
tecture, which,  indeed,  it  then  bid  fair  to  become. 
Mr.  Schuyler 's  contentions,  his  analysis  of  the  style, 
were  admirably  well  founded,  for  he  saw  possibilities 
in  a  Romanesque  Revival  for  the  reason  that  Roman- 
esque was  never  a  "finished"  style,  in  the  sense  that 
the  Classic  or  Gothic  styles  were  finished.  Gothic 
architecture  supplanted  Romanesque  architecture 


110  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

before  the  latter  had  reached  its  complete  stylistic 
development,  so  that  no  " perfect  examples"  exist  to 
represent  Eomanesque  architecture,  as  the  Parthenon 
represents  Classic,  or  the  great  French  cathedrals 
represent  Gothic.  It  seemed,  then,  as  though  we  might 
take  Eomanesque  architecture  at  the  point  where  it  was 
interrupted,  and,  revitalising  it,  develop  it  into  a  Nine- 
teenth Century  American  style.  Mr.  Schuyler  wrote 
(in  1891) : 

"It  will  be  seen  .  .  .  that  Romanesque  archi- 
tecture, in  the  Norman,  the  German  and  the  Provencal 
phases  of  it,  constitutes  an  architectural  language  that 
is  applicable  to  all  our  needs,  for  there  is  no  mode  of 
building,  from  the  ecclesiastical  to  the  domestic,  in 
which  we  have  not  already  successful  examples  to  show, 
and  in  which  we  may  not  hope  for  still  more  signal  suc- 
cesses in  the  future.  It  has  not  been  conventionalised 
or  formalised  so  as  no  longer  to  be  expressive,  but  is 
still  free  and  flexible,  and  it  affords  ample  opportunity 
for  a  designer  to  manifest  his  scholarship  and  his  indi- 
viduality, if  he  have  any.  So  much  cannot  be  said  of 
any  previous  style  that  has  come  so  near  to  establishing 
itself.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  our  designers  may  be 
content  to  develop  its  resources  and  not  be  tempted  to 
abandon  it,  as  so  many  promising  beginnings  have  been 
abandoned  in  the  history  of  modern  architecture, 
through  an  unlucky  or  disastrous  caprice. ' ' 

The  critic's  estimate  of  the  destiny  of  the  Roman- 
esque Revival  in  America  is  peculiarly  interesting,  and 
bears  evidence  of  the  futility  of  architectural  prophe- 
cies. Mr.  Schuyler  did  not  reckon  on  the  impact  of  two 
other,  and  evidently  more  powerful,  architectural  in- 
fluences which  made  their  effect  apparent  within  so  few 
years  after  this  piece  of  writing — the  great  Renaissance 


ROMANESQUE  DERIVATIONS  111 

Revival,  championed  by  McKim,  Mead  and  White,  and 
the  great  French- Classic  influence  emanating  from  the 
Ecole  des  'Beaux  Arts  in  Paris. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  legacy  of  Richardson  to  Ameri- 
can architecture  was  his  demonstration  of  the  fact  that 
architectural  sanity  in  this  country  lies  only  in  a  sin- 
cere, intelligent  and  scholarly  adherence  to  a  worthy 
historic  style,  be  that  style  what  it  may.  Richardson 
taught  the  architects  of  his  time,  as  well  as  the  dis- 
criminating public,  that  architectural  precedent  is 
safer,  and  more  productive  of  desirable  results,  than 
architectural  experiment. 

And  in  doing  this,  he  left  behind  him  a  splendid 
record  of  architectural  achievement  in  the  buildings 
which  he  designed.  Conspicuous  among  these  are 
Trinity  Church  in  Boston,  Sever  Hall  and  Austin 
Hall  in  Cambridge,  the  Pittsburgh  Court  House,  the 
Cincinnati  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  a  great  many 
permanently  pleasing  residences  and  railroad  stations, 
especially  through  the  New  England  States. 

While  the  works  of  many  of  Richardson's  followers 
were  admirably  sincere  and  were  perfectly  legitimate 
expressions  of  a  dominant  architectural  idea,  the  works 
of  most  of  those  who  imitated  him  merely  as  an  oppor- 
tune expedient  were  ill-studied,  and  not  only  worthless 
in  themselves,  but  tended  to  discredit  the  real  and 
higher  aims  of  the  Romanesque  Revival. 

The  architectural  observer  will  recognise  the  build- 
ings of  this  interesting  period  in  American  architecture 
because  buildings  of  the  Richardsonian  Revival  bear  an 
unmistakable  stamp.  Usually  of  stone,  their  propor- 
tions are  massive  and  often  heavy.  The  cavernous  en- 
trances are  spanned  by  great  semi-circular  arches,  and 
the  composition  is  usually  dominated  by  a  sturdy  tower 


112  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

with  pointed  roof.  The  carved  detail  may  vary  in  the 
merit  with  which  the  Byzantine  or  Romanesque  render- 
ing of  the  acanthus  leaf,  or  grotesque  heads,  may  be 
carried  out.  In  masonry,  thd  stones  were  each  hewn 
with  the  rough,  chipped  treatment  which  classifies  such 
masonry  as  "rock-faced." 

In  the  Richardson  Romanesque  buildings  of  brick, 
we  often  find  that  the  bricks  have  been  moulded  to 
resemble  " rock-faced"  stone,  and,  as  in  Sever  Hall  at 
Harvard  University,  there  is  an  abundance  of  specially 
moulded  brick  for  cornices,  string-courses,  mullions 
and  other  details,  with  foliated  capitals  in  unglazed 
terra-cotta. 

The  decline  of  Byzantine  and  Romanesque  ideas  as 
the  dominating  trend  of  architectural  thought  in  this 
country,  and  the  rise  of  the  Latin  derivations,  Italian 
and  French,  is  the  logical  subject  for  another  chapter. 
It  remains  only  to  point  out  to  what  extent  we  have 
still  to  reckon  with  Romanesque  derivations  in 
America,  before  passing  on  to  the  study  of  our  modern 
Gothic  derivations  in  this  chapter. 

Although  the  Romanesque  Revival  of  1871-1891  was 
not  destined  to  mould  the  entire  subsequent  character 
of  American  architecture,  the  style  possesses  such 
admirable  qualities  for  expression  in  ecclesiastical 
architecture  that  it  has  been  the  inspiration  of  a  great 
many  distinctly  successful  church  buildings,  and  will, 
without  doubt,  continue  always  to  occupy  a  prominent 
place,  in  this  capacity,  of  importance  nearly  equal  to 
that  of  the  Gothic  style. 

To  cite  a  few  examples  which  are  conspicuous  not 
only  for  their  scholarly  yet  imaginative  rendering  of 
the  Byzantine  and  Romanesque  style  but  for  their 
architectural  merit  regardless  of  this  consideration, 


ROMANESQUE  DERIVATIONS  113 

the  observer  may  profitably  study  several  churches  in 
New  York  and  its  vicinity.  Particular  attention  is 
directed  toward  the  Madison  Square  Presbyterian 
Church,  under  the  shadow  of  the  great  Metropolitan 
tower,  and  to  the  chapel  of  Columbia  University. 
Another  admirable  derivation  is  seen  in  the  Church 
of  St.  Joseph  at  Babylon,  Long  Island,  and  again,  to 
transport  ourselves  in  a  moment  to  the  Pacific  Coast, 
in  the  First  Church  of  Christ  Scientist,  in  Los  Angeles, 
California. 

In  that  the  'Byzantine  and  Romanesque  churches  of 
the  early  Christians  in  Rome  represented  the  ideals  of 
a  distinctly  simple  kind  of  religious  thought,  adapta- 
tions of  Byzantine  and  Romanesque  styles  may  come 
to  be  regarded  as  an  architectural  expression  peculiarly 
suitable  for  the  church  edifices  of  the  more  radical 
Protestant  sects,  while  the  Gothic  style  effects  an  archi- 
tectural expression  ranging  through  various  degrees 
of  Episcopal  "high  church"  to  the  Roman  church  itself, 

Romanesque  architecture  was  once  considered  pecul- 
iarly adaptable  for  the  design  of  modern  office  build- 
ings, but  the  development  of  this  essentially  American 
type  has  grown  further  and  further  away  from  any 
Romanesque  possibilities  of  treatment.  When  walls 
were  of  stone,  and  the  floors  of  steel  beams,  and  tho 
height  of  the  building  not  more  than  eight  or  ten 
stories,  the  style  was  adaptable.  It  became  impossible, 
however,  when  the  structure  of  the  building  was  entirely 
of  steel,  and  the  proportion  of  voids  (window  openings) 
overbalanced,  in  relation,  the  solids  (wall  spaces). 
Romanesque  architecture  was  of  a  massive,  heavy  char- 
acter, and,  from  its  nature,  could  not  be  made  to  con- 
form with  this  skeleton  steel  frame,  or  to  soar  upward 
to  twenty,  twenty-five,  thirty,  forty  stories  or  more. 


114  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

And  for  the  private  house  the  style  became  "old 
fashioned,"  newer  adaptations  were  in  vogue,  and 
despite  their  marked  architectural  interest,  the  old 
Kichardsonian  Romanesque  country  houses  seemed 
dark,  dismal  and  ''heavy"  beside  newer  creations 
adapted  from  Italian  villas  and  French  chateaux,  or  in 
variations  of  English  styles. 

The  Gothic  style,  however,  survived  the  distaste 
which  it  created  in  the  so-called  " Gothic  Revival" 
immediately  preceding  the  Romanesque  Revival,  and 
established  itself  as  a  permanent  inspiration  and  source 
of  derivation  for  various  types  of  American  buildings. 
Thus  we  find  in  the  current  architecture  of  this  country 
Gothic  derivations  which  may  be  called,  for  conveni- 
ence, "Ecclesiastical,"  "Collegiate,"  "Military,"  and 
"Commercial" — the  designations  referring  in  part  to 
the  several  varying  renderings  of  the  style,  and  in  part 
to  the  types  of  building  in  which  these  renderings 
appear. 

It  is  natural  that  by  far  the  greatest  part  of  Gothic 
inspiration  and  Gothic  derivation  in  American  archi- 
tecture is  to  be  found  in  church  and  cathedral  buildings 
and  while  the  greater  proportion  of  these  lack  the  true 
spirit  of  the  Gothic  style,  the  meritorious  minority 
offers  a  peculiarly  interesting  field  for  observation  and 
study. 

The  explanation  of  the  failure  of  the  greater  pro- 
portion of  our  Gothic  churches  lies  in  the  circumstance 
that  their  architects  have  failed  to  consider  the  organic 
nature  of  Gothic  architecture,  have  failed  to  recognise 
its  similarity  to  a  tree.  A  tree  grows  out  of  a  seed, 
putting  forth  branches  as  it  conies  into  its  growth,  and 
these  put  forth  leaves.  Different  varieties  of  trees 
have  different  ways  of  growing,  each  way  characteristic 


Tram,  Goodlmr  *  Ferguson,  Architects  *'r«>m  u  diawiiiK  by  Hertmni  G.  Uoudhuu 

A  SPLENDID  MODERN  CONCEPTION   IN   THE  GOTHIC  STYLE 

Two  salient  points  should  be  noted  here — the  remarkable  "upward  motion,"  and  the  excel- 
lent relation  of  detail  to  mass 
(Porch  of  the  proposed  Baltimore  Cathedral1! 


"! 


Crain,  Goodhue  A:  Ferguson,  Architects  Photograph  by  Julian  Buckly 

A  STRONG   MODERN  VERSION  OF  THE  GOTHIC  CHURCH 

A  fine  rendering  of  the  massive  irregularity  which  characterises  a  certain  type  of  Gothic  design 
(St.  Thomas'  Church,  New  York  City) 


GOTHIC  DERIVATIONS  115 

of  a  species,  and  some,  like  wind-bent  cedars  by  the  open 
seashore,  may  take  on  forms  which  seem  curious  and 
grotesque,  although  the  result  of  special  conditions. 

And  so  a  Gothic  church  of  the  Thirteenth  or  Four- 
teenth Century  grew,  organically,  gaining  size  and 
branching  out  in  chapels  or  cloisters  in  various  direc- 
tions as  the  growth  progressed,  each  addition  springing 
naturally  and  spontaneously  from  the  main  stem  of 
the  Gothic  idea.  The  Gothic  church  itself,  its  massive 
buttresses  rising  to  take  the  thrust  of  the  side-aisle 
arches,  and  flying  buttresses  springing  upward  above 
these  to  take  the  thrust  of  the  great  nave  arches,  was 
like  an  organic  growth,  its  many  members  created  by 
structural  necessities — exactly  as  a  branch  has  greatest 
girth  next  the  trunk  to  take  the  greater  strain  at  this 
point. 

It  is  doubtful  if  anyone  but  a  Japanese  artist  would 
attempt  to  construct  an  actual  copy  of  a  tree — but  if 
such  an  interesting  hypothetical  undertaking  were  to 
be  tried,  no  one  engaged  in  it  would  dream  that  any 
structural  or  organic  features  of  the  "design"  of  the 
tree  could  be  improved  upon,  or  that  a  pine  bough  would 
look  well  growing  from  a  maple  tree.  Eegardless  of 
its  appearance,  the  designer  would  at  least  feel  that  the 
introduction  of  the  pine  branch  would  destroy  the 
botanical  resemblance  of  his  work  to  a  maple  tree. 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  however,  that  very  few  archi- 
tects, in  relation  to  the  great  numbers  who  have  essayed 
Gothic  adaptations,  indulge  their  thoughts  in  such  a 
profitable  simile.  The  result  is  that  they  have  pro- 
duced illogical  (and  hence  unconvincing)  Gothic  edi- 
fices— buildings  adorned  with  buttresses  which  abut 
no  arches,  with  wings  not  related  to  any  natural  expres- 
sion of  the  growth  of  the  building — in  fine  a  hybrid 


116  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

structure.     They  have  copied  Gothic  forms  without 
understanding  or  experiencing  Gothic  feeling. 

And  here  it  is  important  to  point  out  the  reason  why 
Gothic  architecture  is  a  peculiarly  exacting  style  to 
adapt  to-day,  as  compared  with  Classic  or  Renaissance 
architecture.  The  very  life  of  Gothic  architecture  is 
dependent  upon  the  degree  of  real  and  understanding 
feeling  which  has  entered  into  its  contrivance,  irre- 
spective of  the  comparatively  superficial  forms  which 
are  the  material  media  of  its  expression.  In  Classic 
or  Renaissance  architecture,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
importance  of  certain  material  forms  outweighs  the 
degree  of  feeling  necessary  to  intelligently  manipulate 
and  render  these  forms.  In  this  way,  to  design  in 
the  Gothic  style  is  a  very  different  matter  from  design- 
ing with  the  Gothic  style.  The  first  kind  of  design  has 
produced  a  number  of  remarkable  latter-day  expres- 
sions of  Gothic  architecture :  the  second  has  produced 
a  far  greater  number  of  misexpressions  of  Gothic 
architecture. 

Certain  carefully  considered  thoughts  on  the  sym- 
bolic values  of  the  Gothic  style  in  the  expressive  design 
of  church  edifices  appeared  in  a  paper  contributed  by 
the  writer  to  "The  Churchman"  magazine  of  March 
21, 1914,  entitled  * '  Symbolism  in  Modern  Church  Archi- 
tecture, ' '  here  quoted : 

"It  is  doubtful  if  sufficient  emphasis  has  ever  been 
made  of  the  fact  that  architecture,  of  all  the  arts,  is 
the  most  expressive  vehicle  for  symbolism.  Possibly 
the  reason  for  this  lack  of  recognition  of  the  symbolic 
values  of  architecture  lies  in  the  fact  that  very  few 
architects  have  appreciated  it.  When  the  training  and 
practice  of  the  average  architect  of  to-day  is  taken  into 
consideration,  this  is  not  so  greatly  to  be  wondered  at, 


GOTHIC  DERIVATIONS  117 

for  in  the  first  instance  he  has  become  versed,  by  neces- 
sity, in  material  forms,  and  in  the  second  finds  himself, 
at  the  outset  of  his  practice,  one  of  the  world's  workers 
in  an  age  of  which  the  aesthetic  or  spiritual  ideals  rarely 
rise  above  literal  materialism  at  their  highest  level, 
even  when  they  stop  short  of  absolute  commercialism 
at  their  lowest  level. 

"Broadly  defining  symbolism,  before  proceeding 
with  its  expression  in  current  architectural  achieve- 
ments, it  may  be  said  that  there  are  two  kinds.  First 
one  is  impelled,  by  instinct,  to  think  of  literal  symbols, 
which  are  of  comparatively  little  importance — to  adorn 
a  shrine  of  St.  Matthias  with  the  axe,  or  of  St.  Paul 
with  a  sword — to  carve  about  a  doorway  the  winged 
man,  the  winged  lion,  the  winged  ox  and  the  eagle  of  the 
four  evangelists. 

' '  This,  to  be  sure,  is  one  sort  of  symbolism,  but  the 
sort  which  requires  only  erudition  to  master,  and  into  a 
knowledge  of  which  art  enters  not  at  all.  Perhaps 
many  of  our  ecclesiastical  edifices  do  not  show  enough 
of  this  sort  of  symbolism,  but  it  is  not  upon  such  con- 
siderations that  their  significance  to-day  or  for  pos- 
terity will  depend. 

"The  fundamentally  important  symbolism  to  be 
desired  in  church  architecture  is  of  a  broader  kind,  and 
involves  a  basic  understanding  of  the  difference  be- 
tween the  spiritual  and  the  material.  Many  architects 
have  gone  about  their  work  in  designing  a  church  by 
assembling  in  their  minds  only  a  collection  of  material 
forms,  and  this  they  have  generally  done  to  such  an 
extent  that  there  has  been  left  no  room  for  the  con- 
sideration of  things  spiritual. 

* '  Obviously  no  other  type  of  building  calls  into  play 
the  necessity  for  expression  of  the  spiritual  as  opposed 


118  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

to  the  material  in  architectural  design  to  so  great  a 
degree  as  the  church  edifice,  and  it  is  therefore  the  more 
to  be  deplored  that  so  few  latter-day  architects  have 
failed  to  grasp  the  futility  of  seeking  such  architectural 
expression  by  means  of  form  without  feeling. 

"A  meaningless  assemblage  of  pointed  arches, 
crockets,  Gothic  tracery  and  stained  glass  windows, 
which  are  architectural  forms,  or  tools,  will  not  produce 
a  well-designed  church  edifice  with  true  architectural 
meaning  any  more  than  a  meaningless  assemblage  of 
words,  which  are  also  forms,  or  tools,  will  produce  a 
piece  of  literature  with  true  literary  value.  In  none  of 
the  arts  can  expression  signify  anything  of  consequence 
unless  the  tools  of  that  art  have  been  directed  by 
thought,  which  is  the  spiritual  element,  to  the  end  that 
the  finished  fabric  will  express  thought.  No  painting 
was  great  by  technique  alone,  no  literary  masterpiece 
by  virtue  of  the  words  contained  in  it ;  or  any  architec- 
tural monument  solely  by  reason  of  the  accuracy  in 
the  material  form  of  its  several  parts.  There  is  a 
careful  stupidity  which  believes  accuracy  to  be  art, 
and  even  accepting  architecture  in  its  real  meaning  as 
an  art,  believes  that  careful  adherence  to  material 
forms  will  bring  the  required  expression  of  an  idea. 
One  architect  may  conscientiously  develop  an  architec- 
tural project  from  some  work  of  the  past,  and  entirely 
fail  to  produce  in  execution  a  design  even  creditable. 
Another,  governed  by  exactly  the  same  inspiration,  may 
produce  a  masterpiece.  The  more  deeply  the  student 
goes  into  the  study  of  architecture  as  a  fine  art,  the 
more  baffled  he  is  likely  to  become,  until  he  realises 
the  parts  actually  played  by  the  material  and  the  spir- 
itual. Gradually  there  become  apparent  certain  large 
architectural  truths,  and  suddenly  it  is  very  clear  why 


GOTHIC  DERIVATIONS  119 

some  architectural  achievements  are  great  and  lasting 
and  others  are  trivial  and  transient.  Forms  alone  can- 
not be  assembled  to  produce  the  highest  architectural 
expression  unless  there  is  brought  to  such  an  assem- 
blage that  quality  known  as  art. 

''As  a  corollary  to  the  last,  it  must  be  brought  out 
with  emphasis  that  art  is  above  all  an  abstract  entity, 
of  a  nature  entirely  spiritual  and  not  at  all  material. 

'  ''But  what  of  form?  What  part,  if  any,  does  it  take 
in  the  production  of  a  work  of  art?  Certainly  it  is  to 
be  taken  into  consideration,  but  not  before  the  much 
more  important  broad  understanding  of  the  opposed 
values  of  the  spiritual  and  the  material.  And  this 
discussion  must  proceed  to  a  logical  and  accepted  con- 
clusion before  it  is  possible  to  discuss  symbolism  in 
architecture,  for  the  reason  that  the  expression  of 
symbolism  is  only  to  be  found  in  a  work  of  art.  It  is 
therefore  necessary,  in  orderly  succession,  to  take 
cognizance  of  the  fact  that  architecture  is  an  art,  to 
appreciate  the  meaning  of  art  as  an  abstract  entity,  and 
to  reach  the  obvious  conclusion  that  only  such  archi- 
tecture as  is  conceived  in  the  highest  tenets  of  true 
art  is  capable  of  becoming  a  vehicle  for  symbolism. 

"The  question  of  the  place  of  material  'form'  is 
worthy  of  a  brief  discussion,  in  which  the  most  salient 
point  to  be  made  is  its  relative  importance  in  compari- 
son with  other  considerations.  In  speaking  specifically 
of  architecture,  added  testimony  toward  establishing 
the  truth  about  "form"  is  to  be  had  in  stating  that 
one  speaks  not  only  of  architecture,  but  of  art  in  its 
several  manifestations ;  for  in  the  creation  of  a  master- 
piece, the  painter  has  his  technique,  the  writer  his  words, 
and  the  architect  his  architectural  forms.  These  things 
are  common,  in  the  intent  of  their  use,  to  all  the  arts, 


120    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

but  we  should  never  lose  sight  of  the  basic  truth  that 
these  are  nothing  but  tools.  One  does  not  become  a 
carpenter  by  virtue  of  slinging  a  tool  bag  over  his 
shoulder,  or  a  great  writer  by  virtue  of  mastering  the 
dictionary. 

1  'Great  architects  have  been  only  those  men  who 
have  acquired  a  knowledge  of  material  forms,  remem- 
bering the  while  that  these  were  but  tools,  and  who  have 
regarded  the  use  or  manipulation  of  these  forms  not 
as  the  end  of  their  endeavour  but  only  as  a  part  of  the 
means.  And  the  other  part  of  the  means  necessary  to 
the  end  or  attainment  of  architectural  expression,  they 
will  have  realised  to  be  that  essentially  spiritual  quality 
which  is  called  art,  or  that  essentially  artistic  quality 
which  is  called  spiritualism. 

' l  It  is,  then,  only  in  such  an  example  of  architecture 
as  may  be  regarded  as  a  work  of  art  that  we  may  expect 
to  find  an  expression  of  symbolism,  and  in  consideration 
of  the  tremendous  spiritual  idea  which  it  is  required  to 
bring  out  in  church  architecture,  it  is  not  altogether 
surprising  that  such  symbolism  is  lacking  in  most  of 
the  modern  church  edifices  of  this  country. 

' '  There  is  required  symbolic  expression  of  a  fabric 
of  ideas  of  such  magnitude  that  nothing  short  of  the 
highest  degree  of  architectural  imagination  can  even 
conceive  it,  or  the  highest  degree  of  architectural  abil- 
ity achieve  it.  There  are  to  be  expressed  ideas  as  broad 
and  deep  and  far-reaching  as  religion  itself,  some  ideas 
of  mystery,  some  intent  to  create  by  architectural 
means  a  sense  of  awe  and  to  stimulate  those  thoughts  in 
the  human  mind  which  are  the  most  noble  and  the  most 
superhuman — ideals  at  once  exalting  and  humbling. 
This  is  the  symbolism  which  is  the  first  architectural 
essential  in  the  design  of  a  church,  obviously  of  far 


GOTHIC  DERIVATIONS  121 

greater  importance  than  such  symbolism  as  might  be 
called  ecclesiastical  heraldry,  the  attributes  of  saints 
and  the  insignia  of  material  theology. 

' l  And  because  the  master  builders  of  the  great  Euro- 
pean cathedrals  achieved  a  tangible  expression  of  the 
real  symbolism  of  church  architecture,  an  expression 
the  vitality  of  which  has  not  been  impaired,  but  rather 
heightened,  by  time,  many  latter-day  architects  have 
been  so  limited  in  vision  and  understanding  as  to  imag- 
ine that  by  copying  the  forms  which  they  saw  in  the 
works  of  these  master  church-builders  they  must 
achieve  the  desired  result. 

"An  appreciation  of  such  architectural  truths  as 
have  been  thus  far  set  forth  here  will  go  far  toward 
understanding  not  only  the  failure  in  architectural 
significance  of  much  of  our  church  design, but  the  reason, 
for  the  lasting  values  of  such  examples  as  would  seem  to 
have  resulted  from  such  an  appreciation. ' ' 

From  these  thoughts  it  will  be  apparent  that  archi- 
tectural sincerity  and  architectural  understanding  are 
essential  in  designing  any  worthy  adaptation  of  the 
Gothic  style,  and  from  this  view-point  it  will  not  be 
difficult  to  discern,  in  any  effort  to  determine  the  merits 
of  a  church  building,  not  only  its  degree  of  success  or 
failure  in  stylistic  rendering,  but  the  real  architectural 
reasons  underlying  either. 

American  architecture  affords  a  smaller  number  of 
examples  of  Gothic  derivations  in  scholastic  or  colle- 
giate buildings  than  in  ecclesiastical  buildings,  yet 
offers  occasion  for  a  few  comments  in  this  connection. 

In  the  use  of  the  Gothic  style  in  the  buildings  of  a 
school  or  a  college,  the  greatest  success  attending  the 
effort  will  be  found  to  come  from  the  extent  to  which 
the  finished  design  is  unecclesiastical,  yet  expressive 


122  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

of  Gothic  Mediaevalism.  Nor  is  the  performance  of  this 
feat  of  design  a  whit  more  easy  than  it  sounds.  Vir- 
tually every  Gothic  form  is  characteristic,  through 
association,  with  church  edifices,  and  only  an  exception- 
ally skilful  architectural  contrivance  of  these  forms  will 
result  in  anything  but  a  compromise — a  building  which 
suggests  neither  a  well-designed  church  nor  an  expres- 
sively designed  educational  building. 

Success  in  the  undertaking,  however,  amply  repays 
the  architectural  effort  involved,  and  proclaims  the 
architectural  ability  of  the  designer,  if  one  were  to  cite 
only  such  conspicuous  instances  as  the  impressive  group 
of  buildings  for  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  or 
the  scholarly  group  of  buildings  for  the  Graduate  Col- 
lege of  Princeton  University.  The  most  adaptable  and 
the  most  expressive  Gothic  derivation  for  scholastic 
and  collegiate  architecture  will  be  found  in  the  transi- 
tional style  which  combines  Tudor  Gothic  forms,  and 
Early  English  Renaissance  forms — the  style  of  the 
collegiate  architecture  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge. 

American  adaptations  of  this  style  have  been  car- 
ried out  with  conspicuous  success  at  Princeton  Univer- 
sity, the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Bryn  Mawr  Col- 
lege and  St.  Louis  University,  as  well  as  in  many 
buildings  for  private  and  public  schools  throughout 
the  country.  Few  European  derivations  have  been 
more  felicitously  employed  by  American  architects  than 
this  " transitional"  English  style  as  applied  to  edu- 
cational buildings,  and  although  such  derivations  might 
more  properly  be  considered  in  connection  with  our 
architectural  debt  to  England,  there  is  a  sufficient 
Gothic  element  to  allow  of  this  brief  reminder. 

In  speaking  of  * '  Military  Gothic, '  '  one  speaks,  per- 
haps, of  a  version  of  the  style  exemplified  in  but  one 


Cram,  (icxxlliue  Jt  Ferguson,  Architects.      (R.  A.  r.) 

A  GOTHIC  ARCH  FROM  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL  OF  PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY 
There  is  apparent  here  a  mingling  of  ecclesiastical  and  scholastic  Gothic.  The  shields  are  English 
in  character,  the  "flames"  along  the  arch  are  "flamboyant"  French.  Grotesques  have  been 
used  as  corbels,  and  to  terminate  the  outer  moulding  of  the  arch 


A  MODERN  DERIVATION  OF  THE  GOTHIC  GROTESQUE 

An  illustration  of  the  symbolic  possibilities  of  the  Gothic  grotesque 


Cram,  Guodhu«  <fc  Ferguson,  Architect!*.     (K.  A.  C.) 

GOTHIC  RIB-VAULTING  IN  A  MODERN  AMERICAN  BUILDING 

Gothic  derivation  handled  in  a  manner  at  once  scholarly  and  free 

(The  Graduate  School  of  Princeton  University) 


GOTHIC  DERIVATIONS  123 

group  of  American  buildings — yet  this  group  repre- 
sents such  a  splendid  and  remarkable  architectural 
achievement  that  its  significance  could  not  be  over- 
looked in  the  works  of  any  period  or  any  nationality. 

In  this  specific  sense,  the  term  "Military  Gothic" 
is  to  be  regarded  as  applying  to  the  buildings  of  the 
United  States  Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  on  the 
Hudson  Eiver — in  a  more  general  sense  it  is  to  be 
regarded  as  applying  to  the  massive,  rugged,  fortress- 
like  type  of  Gothic  architecture  called  Norman  Gothic. 
A  paragraphic  study  of  the  buildings  at  West  Point 
will  serve  to  make  clear  the  architectural  qualities  to  be 
understood  by  the  term  ' '  Military  Gothic, ' '  so  that  any 
less  specific  considerations  may  be  regarded  as 
unnecessary. 

It  is  apparent  that  the  idea  of  military  architecture 
immediately  conveys  some  thought  of  a  fortress  or  a 
castle,  of  a  place  to  be  defended.  From  time  imme- 
morial man  has  availed  himself  of  nature 's  aid  in  build- 
ing any  kind  of  defense  by  selecting  as  a  site  some 
inaccessible  crag  like  Tintagel,  some  natural  eminence 
which  must  offer  to  an  enemy  as  great  a  difficulty  of 
approach  as  possible.  One  does  not  conceive  of  a  for- 
tress built  on  a  plain,  or  in  a  valley.  And  so,  regardless 
of  any  actual  necessity,  or  even  contingency  of  military 
defense,  our  thoughts  of  a  military  edifice  picture  first 
a  considerable  natural  height  as  the  location  for  such 
a  building. 

In  this  particular  of  mental  association,  the  site  of 
the  group  at  West  Point  is  at  once  logical  and  appro- 
priate, the  massive  buildings  crowning  the  steep  bank 
of  the  Hudson  Eiver  with  an  impressive  bulk  of  sturdy 
masonry.  Whereas  Ecclesiastical  Gothic  architecture 
is  at  its  best  in  the  achievement  of  delicate  lightness 


124    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

and  attenuation,  Military  Gothic  is  obviously  at  its  best 
in  the  achievement  of  tremendous  weight  and  conden- 
sation of  form.  In  this  architectural  quality  the  build- 
ings at  West  Point  are  manifestly  successful.  They 
are,  furthermore,  of  significant  interest  to  the  student 
as  a  group-study  as  well  as  an  individual  building 
study,  for  the  work  was  won  in  competition  largely 
because  it  was  so  apparent,  even  to  a  committee  of  un- 
architectural  judges,  that  here  was  a  tremendous  and 
expressive  architectural  idea,  a  dominant  architectural 
purpose  in  the  vision  of  the  designers.  In  this,  inci- 
dentally, lies  the  difference  between  a  mere  building 
and  a  work  of  architecture — the  first  lacking  purpose, 
and  consequently  failing  in  expression ;  the  second  being 
the  result  of  a  definite  and  intelligent  architectural 
intention. 

These  observations  on  Gothic  derivations  in  Ameri- 
can architecture  may  be  concluded  by  a  few  comments 
on  "Commercial  Gothic,"  and  on  the  difficulty 
of  creating,  or  re-creating  in  this  country  a  "Domestic 
Gothic. ' '  The  term '  *  Commercial  Gothic ' '  is,  from  the 
very  natures  of  the  commercial  idea  and  the  Gothic 
idea,  a  paradoxical  term,  yet  one  which  most  aptly 
applies  to  certain  of  our  architectural  essays.  Much 
architecture,  indeed,  is  paradoxical  in  theory,  not  only 
in  this  country  but  in  certain  historic  periods  in  Europe, 
and  it  is  this  fact  which,  to  some  extent,  makes  such  a 
term  as  "Commercial  Gothic"  an  apt  and  accurate 
one,  in  fact,  while  it  may  well  be  criticised  as  a  para- 
doxical one  on  paper. 

It  is  to  be  submitted,  however,  that  the  variance 
between  ideas  suggested  by  "Commercial"  and  ideas 
suggested  by  "Gothic"  is  a  variance  rather  in  the 
realm  of  thought  than  between  the  actual  architectural 


Cope  &  Stewardsou,  Architect! 
AX  AMERICAN  DERIVATION   FROM  ENGLISH  SCHOLASTIC  ARCHITECTURE 

The  buildings  of  the  old  Colleges  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  in  England  show  the  transition 
from  Gothic  to  Renaissance  feeling.  The  peculiar  dignity  and  charm  of  this  style  have  been 
admirably  rendered  here 

(The   Provost's  Tower,   University   of  Pennsylvania) 


Cram,  Goodhue  &  Ferguson,  Architects 

"MILITARY  GOTHIC" 

A  rugged  and  imposing  version  of  the  great  ecclesiastical  style 
(The  Chapel  of  the  West  Point  Military  Academy) 


Photograph  by  Julian  Buckly 


GOTHIC  DERIVATIONS  125 

requirements  of  our  modern  office  buildings  and  the 
degree  to  which  the  Gothic  style  may  be  applied  to 
them.  A  Gothic  "  derivation, "  however,  is  the  most 
that  may  be  claimed,  for  the  reason  that  a  steel  building 
structurally  dispenses  with  the  Gothic  essentials  of 
vaulting,  pointed  arches  and  buttresses.  Structurally 
a  modern  steel  building  possesses  no  point  in  common 
with  any  Gothic  building.  Superficially,  however,  a 
striking  affinity  becomes  apparent  at  once. 

The  modern  steel  building  is  "perpendicular"  in 
form;  it  springs  from  a  far  smaller  ground  area  than 
any  Gothic  church,  and  towers  to  greater  heights.  The 
perpendicular  " movement"  of  its  lines  is  essential,  and 
for  this  the  Gothic  style  offers  a  direct  external  expres- 
sion. Furthermore,  by  reason  of  the  comparative 
slenderness  of  the  steel  skeleton,  and  the  desirability 
of  devising  well-lighted  offices,  a  predominant  propor- 
tion of  void  to  solid  is  called  for  in  the  design.  Here, 
again,  the  Gothic  style  offers  an  architectural  solution, 
with  its  tall,  slender,  vertical  members,  and  its  absence 
of  solid  wall  spaces.  The  Gothic  style  is  adaptable 
for  the  external,  or  superficial,  expression  of  the  modern 
steel  building  for  exactly  the  same  reasons  that  the 
Eomanesque  style,  considered  earlier,  proved  not  to  be 
adaptable. 

Thus,  despite  the  absolute  incompatibility  of  the 
purposes  and  ideas  of  a  modern  office  building  and  the 
purposes  and  ideas  of  a  Gothic  church,  and  despite  the 
obvious  structural  differences  existing  between  them, 
there  is,  nevertheless,  an  adequate  sanction  for  Gothic 
derivations  in  the  modern  tall  buildings  of  to-day. 

It  is  not  intended  to  imply  that  the  Gothic  style 
offers  the  only  solution  of  the  problem,  and  others 
are  alluded  to  in  the  ninth  chapter.  It  is  intended 


126    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

rather  to  bring  out  the  thought  that  there  is  nothing 
stylistically  illogical  or  unpermissible  in  the  employ- 
ment of  Gothic  derivations  in  matters  of  form. 

The  difference  in  purpose  and  idea  existing  between 
the  prototype  and  its  modern  derivation  is,  after  all, 
chiefly  a  difference  which  might  be  called  "literary," 
or  "mental."  Instinctively  the  mind  is  disturbed  by 
thoughts  of  a  bank  of  swift  elevators,  rushing  busy 
stock-brokers  up  and  down  the  towers  of  Notre  Dame 
Cathedral,  or  of  high  mass  being  chanted  in  the  corri- 
dor of  an  office  building  on  lower  Broadway  in  New 
York.  Dismissing  these  purely  associative  thoughts, 
it  is  possible  to  form  some  impartial  architectural 
conclusion.  It  is  true  that  associative  thoughts  should 
be  reckoned  as  a  powerful  factor  in  architectural  design 
— yet,  if  the  Gothic  builders  of  the  Middle  Ages  had 
been  confronted  with  the  necessity  of  erecting  towering 
office  buildings,  would  they  not  have  made  the  most 
of  their  "perpendicular"  style?  Since  we  admittedly 
borrow  architectural  styles,  may  we  not,  with  propriety, 
borrow  those  most  adaptable  to  given  kinds  of 
buildings  I 

Modern  architectural  adaptations  of  the  Gothic  style 
for  commercial  buildings  have  been  attended  by  con- 
spicuous success  in  a  number  of  instances,  such  as  the 
Trinity  'Building,  the  United  States  Eealty  Building, 
the  Times  Building,  numerous  tall  apartment  houses 
in  New  York  City,  and,  towering  above  all  of  these, 
both  in  actual  size  and  in  the  success  of  its  Gothic  deri- 
vation— the  great  "Woolworth  Building. 

It  may  truthfully  be  said  that  a  pause  to  study  this 
will  repay  the  student  or  lay  observer  of  architecture 
in  several  ways.  There  is  apparent,  first,  a  great  archi- 
tectural intention  in  this  building.  The  magnitude  and 


Case  Gilbert,  Architect  Photograph  l.y  H.  Tebl.s 

A  REMARKABLE  PIECE  OF  ARCHITECTURAL  DESIGN,  IN  WHICH  THE 
MEDIAEVAL  GOTHIC  STYLE  HAS  BEEN  ADAPTED  FOR  A  MODERN  OFFICE 
BUILDING,  WITH  A  TRANSLATION  OF  MATERIAL  AND  A  VASTLY  MAGNI- 
FIED SCALE 

(The  Woolworth  Building,  New  York  City) 


Caw  Gilbert,  Architect 

Detail  of  "canopy"  at  twenty-seventh  story         Detail  of  flying  buttress  at  forty-second  story 
Detail  of  windows  and  gargoyle  at  twenty-         Detail  of  roof  and  parapet  at  twenty-eighth 
seventh  story  story 

THE  WOOLWORTH  BUILDING,  NEW  YORK  CITY 


GOTHIC  DERIVATIONS  127 

dignity,  even  the  nobility,  of  this  intention  has  raised  it 
far  above  the  highest  plane  usually  attained  by  the 
* '  commercial, ' '  and  has  created  an  edifice  which  entirely 
merits  the  characterisation  of  a  visiting  Englishman — 
"a  Cathedral  of  Commerce. "  In  this  respect,  then, 
the  Woolworth  Building  is  to  be  regarded  as  an  archi- 
tectural achievement  of  the  higher  order. 

In  the  matter  of  its  execution,  a  clear  idea  of  its 
architectural  significance  will  come  from  a  considera- 
tion of  certain  elements  in  its  design — elements  of  mass, 
light  and  shade,  material,  scale,  and  stylistic  derivation. 

Taking  these  elements  in  succession,  it  may  be  said 
that  the  mass  is  successfully  handled — a  matter  of  vital 
importance  in  a  structure  of  such  colossal  size.  The 
tower  bears  a  seemly  and  logical  relationship  to  the 
body  of  the  building,  whether  viewed  from  the  front  or 
the  rear,  and  it  diminishes  in  girth  at  the  right  height 
above  the  roof.  The  abutting  gables  at  the  base  of  the 
tower  effect  an  agreeable  transition  from  the  roof  of 
the  sub-structure — gables  which,  small  as  they  appear 
in  relation  to  the  entire  building,  are  equal  in  size  to  the 
average  city  shop  or  house-front.  In  the  manipulation 
of  light  and  shade,  the  designer  displayed  rare  archi- 
tectural ingenuity  by  utilising  the  ''canopy"  motif 
at  three  levels  of  the  structure,  and  these  serve,  by  the 
shadow  they  cast,  to  effect  three  horizontal  divisions 
without  any  conflict  with  the  perpendicular  "move- 
ment" of  the  whole  design.  Anything  resembling  a 
cornice  could  not  possibly  be  introduced  in  a  Gothic 
design,  under  any  pretext,  yet  it  was  necessary  to  break, 
in  some  way,  the  monotony  and  even  ocular  displeasure 
which  would  have  resulted  from  sheer  perpendiculars 
of  such  tremendous  height. 

In  the  matter  of  material,  a  skilful  architectural 


128  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

' '  translation ' '  was  necessary.  Gothic  architecture  was 
essentially  an  architecture  of  stone,  in  the  matter  of 
exteriors,  whereas  the  Woolworth  Building,  above  the 
third  story,  is  of  glazed  terra-cotta.  Forms,  then,  which 
were  created  from  a  solid  material  by  hammer  and 
chisel,  were  contrived  here  from  a  plastic  material  by 
means  of  modelling.  That  so  essential  a  difference  in 
material  and  method  of  production  could  be  so  honestly 
and  successfully  overcome  is  a  significant  point  not 
only  in  architectural ' '  derivation, ' '  but  in  architectural 
* '  translation. ' ' 

Perhaps  no  architectural  consideration  involved  in 
the  study  of  the  Woolworth  Building  brings  out  so  im- 
portant an  element  of  design  as  the  consideration  of  the 
scale  of  its  detail.  Nor  could  a  more  graphic  illustra- 
tion of  the  importance  of  scale  in  architecture  be 
offered. 

The  details  of  the  Woolworth  Building  are  to  be 
seen  from  two  widely  different  stations — from  the 
street,  where  they  are  elevated  several  hundred  feet  in 
the  air,  and  at  close  range,  from  the  several  galleries 
such  as  the  gallery  at  the  forty-second  story.  It  was 
necessary,  then,  to  contrive  forms  which  should  bear 
a  relation  as  scholarly  as  possible  with  historic  prec- 
edent, and  to  contrive  these  forms  with  such  subtlety 
that  they  would  have  telling  effect  from  the  street,  far 
below,  and  at  the  same  time  would  not  appear  crude 
and  monstrous  when  seen  at  their  own  level. 

To  design  "in  scale,"  as  understood  in  this  con- 
nection, is  not  merely  to  magnify,  merely  to  increase 
diameters  and  thicknesses.  Such  a  process  would  result 
only  in  the  creation  of  the  architecture  of  a  nightmare. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  process  here  was  one  of  con- 
summate subtlety,  practised  under  peculiarly  exacting 


GOTHIC  DERIVATIONS  129- 

conditions.  The  scale  of  the  cornice  of  a  five-story 
building  is  a  matter  meriting  no  less  attention,  or  a 
matter  no  less  involved  in  the  success  of  the  archi- 
tectural design,  but  the  problem  is  by  no  means  so 
difficult. 

In  the  matter  of  stylistic  derivation  the  Woolworth 
Building  is  conspicuously  successful.  Essentially 
characteristic  Gothic  forms  have  been  used,  and  in  a 
manner  which  declares  they  have  been  frankly  used 
for  their  "pictorial"  rather  than  their  structural 
values.  No  structural  need  of  a  steel  building  (unless 
wind-bracing)  is  served  by  a  flying  buttress,  yet  their 
introduction  at  the  forty-second  story  is  at  once  grace- 
ful and  effective.  The  picturesque  interest  of  Gothic 
detail  was  given  expression  by  the  use  of  gargoyles 
and  grotesque  animal  forms,  far  up  among  the  traceried 
heights  of  the  great  building — invisible  from  the  street 
level  below,  but  irresistibly  interesting  in  chance 
glimpses  from  windows  or  galleries.  The  quaint  archi- 
tectural pleasantry  of  the  grotesque  has  been  used,  also, 
in  the  detailing  of  the  lobby,  where  sculptured  stone 
corbels  under  the  ceiling  beams  will  preserve  for  pos- 
terity admirable  caricature  portraits  of  the  owner,  the 
architect,  the  master-builder  and  others  prominently 
identified  with  the  erection  of  this  remarkable  building. 

Detailed  consideration  has  been  indulged  in  with 
reference  to  the  Woolworth  Building  for  the  reason 
that,  besides  being  one  of  the  most  noteworthy  of  Amer- 
ican buildings,  its  design  (in  both  intention  and  form) 
illustrates  many  architectural  points  of  peculiar  value 
to  the  lay  student. 

It  remains  now  to  comment  briefly  on  the  difficulty 
of  expressing  modern  domesticity  in  the  Gothic  style, 
especially  in  the  exterior  aspect  of  a  dwelling.  Several 


130  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

intangible,  yet  potent,  factors  militate  against  its  ac- 
ceptance, one,  perhaps,  a  distasteful  recollection  of  the 
dismal  and  stupid  monstrosities  of  the  inept  Euskinian 
"Gothic  Eevival,"  another,  the  constant  associative 
mental  connection  of  Gothic  forms  with  ecclesiastical 
buildings. 

Some  residential  interiors  of  Gothic  design  have 
been  conspicuously  interesting  and  successful,  a  few 
clubs  have  been  agreeably  rendered  in  the  Gothic  style 
—but  these  are  exceptions.  Lack  of  familiar  precedent 
has  had  its  effect  on  associative  thought.  The  fine 
Mediaeval  Gothic  residence  (excepting  in  a  few  cities) 
was  the  castle.  There  was  no  well-to-do ' '  middle  class, ' ' 
and  the  dwelling  of  the  serf  or  peasant  was  a  rude 
affair,  by  no  means  attractive  as  a  basis  for  derivation. 
Social  conditions  were  too  widely  dissimilar  from  those 
of  to-day :  manners,  customs  and  modes  of  living  bore 
no  less  variance,  so  that,  from  the  architectural  point 
of  view,  numerous  vast  and  costly  "Mediaeval  Deriva- 
tions" in  the  way  of  Twentieth  Century  American 
"castles"  have  been  lacking  in  expression,  even  when 
they  have  possessed  a  certain  quasi-romantic  or  even 
picturesque  interest.  The  chasm  between  the  Middle 
Ages  in  Europe  and  the  present  day  in  America  is  too 
wide  to  bridge  with  an  architectural  derivation. 

The  idea  of  the  church  has  remained  sufficiently 
similar,  as  also  the  idea  of  a  fortress  implied  in  "Mili- 
tary Gothic. ' '  The  fact  that  commercial  architecture  is 
impersonal,  holding  no  analogy  with  the  past,  and 
claiming  no  intimate  contact  with  our  individual  lives 
in  the  present,  makes  Gothic  derivations  in  form 
acceptable. 

The  dwelling,  however,  has  undergone  too  many 
changes,  has  moulded  itself,  and  been  moulded,  too 


GOTHIC  DERIVATIONS  131 

closely  to  our  personal  desires,  preferences,  needs  and 
uses  to  revert  in  type  to  its  primitive  Mediaeval  form. 
This  truth  will  become  increasingly  apparent  upon 
consideration,  and  in  the  subsequent  study  of  English 
country  houses  and  Italian  villas,  which,  from  their 
more  developed  nature,  offer  a  more  direct  opportunity 
for  derivative  architectural  expression. 

The  following  chapter  is  designed  to  outline  the 
evolution  of  the  English  country  house,  from  its  earlier 
forms  to  the  modern  type,  with  correlated  American 
derivations. 


CHAPTER  VI 

ENGLISH  DERIVATIONS,  EARLY  AND  MODERN 

!THE  IMPORTANCE,  CAUSES  AND  MEANING  OF  ENGLISH 
INFLUENCES  ON  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE.  THE  ANGLO- 
AMERICAN  COUNTRY  HOUSE.  THE  ADAPTABILITY  OF 
ENGLISH  COLLEGIATE  ARCHITECTURE 

NO  person  in  the  least  familiar  with,  the  develop- 
ment of  architecture  in  this  country  can  fail  to 
accord  to  England  its  great  share  in  the  trend  of  our 
architectural  thought. 

English  derivations  are,  perhaps,  most  conspicuous 
in  our  domestic  country  architecture,  and  to  a  lesser 
degree  in  some  other  types  of  building.  The  expression 
of  Renaissance  architecture,  which  became  established 
in  England  under  the  Georges,  and  which  was  trans- 
planted to  this  country  as  "Georgian  Colonial"  is  more 
fully  dealt  with  in  a  subsequent  chapter  on  "American 
Architecture." 

Our  present  observations  are  directed  more  closely 
to  the  English  country  house,  early  and  modern,  and  to 
its  influence  on  our  own  country  house  architecture. 
The  preceding  chapter  laid  emphasis  on  the  English 
derivation  of  that  "transitional"  style  of  blended 
Gothic  and  Renaissance  forms  called  "Collegiate" 
architecture.  English  monumental  buildings  have 
influenced  American  architects  but  little,  largely  be- 
cause of  the  stronger  counter-influence  of  the  Beaux 
Arts  school  in  France. 

It  is  by  no  means  unnatural  that  we  have  turned 
toward  England  for  inspiration  in  designing  the 
country  house,  and  there  are  at  least  two  strong 
unarchitectural  reasons  for  this. 

132 


Trowbridge  &  Acker  nan,  Architects 

ENGLISH  DERIVATION  IN  AN  AMERICAN  COUNTRY  HOUSE 
A  forceful  and  remarkably  accurate  rendering  of  the  domestic  architecture  of  the  English 

Renaissance 
(A  residence  at  Glen  Cove,  Long  Island) 


ENGLISH  DERIVATIONS  133 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  our  family  ties  with 
the  English  people  are  very  strong — we  are  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race,  and  even  the  constant  admixture  of 
other  strains  has  not  materially  modified  the  dominant 
characteristics  of  our  English  forefathers.  Things 
English  could  never  be  "  alien "  to  us,  nor  can  we  ever 
be  " alien"  to  the  English  people. 

It  is  equally  important  to  remember  that  the 
English  may  be  said  to  have  invented  the  very  idea 
of  "country  life,"  and  to  have  enriched  the  idea  in  a 
way  unlike  any  other  European  nation.  Our  own  best 
ideas  in  connection  with  country  life,  indeed,  are  based 
on  good  English  precedent  and  it  is  hard  to  conceive 
of  any  amount  of  evolution  which  could  un-Anglicise 
us  in  this  hereditary  conception. 

The  English,  then,  having  originated  the  idea  of 
"country  life,"  as  we  understand  it  to-day,  naturally 
developed  a  suitable  kind  of  country  dwelling,  the  his- 
tory of  which  is  essential  to  the  proper  understanding 
of  its  characteristics  and  the  proper  appreciation  of 
its  peculiar  charm.  And  since  the  English  idea  of 
country  life  is  the  idea  on  which  our  own  country  life  is 
based,  the  development  of  domestic  architecture  is  best 
followed  in  the  English  country  house.  The  idea  of 
country  life  in  Italy  and  in  France  has  always  differed 
considerably  from  the  English  idea,  and  consequently 
from  the  American  idea.  German  country  life,  and  the 
large  German  country  houses,  after  the  Mediaeval 
castles  were  antiquated,  were  largely  patterned  after 
the  French,  if  one  were  to  cite  only  such  conspicuous 
examples  as  the  castle  and  gardens  of  "Sans  Souci" 
(the  name  itself  being  French)  devised  by  Frederick 
the  Great,  or  the  vast  estate  of  Prince  Piickler  von 
Muskau,  in  Silesia. 


134  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

The  English  country  house,  however,  has  been  a 
continuous  and  logical  growth,  from  its  earliest  times 
to  the  present,  and  many  of  its  salient  features  have 
been  incorporated  in  the  American  country  house.  The 
English  evolution  has  gone  successively  through  the 
' '  Keep, "  the  "  Hall ' '  and  the  ' '  Manor, ' '  until  it  reached 
its  present  form,  the  "country  house,"  and  its  changes 
have  all  been  in  the  direction  of  attaining  greater  com- 
fort, greater  privacy  and  greater  attraction. 

The  "Keep"  was  a  fortress-like  affair  of  feudal 
times.  Its  walls  were  thick  and  had  a  few  small, 
unglazed  windows.  It  was  surrounded  by  no  gracious 
gardens,  but  a  deep  moat  and  a  drawbridge  isolated 
it  from  visit  or  attack.  Here,  from  motives  of  protec- 
tion rather  than  sociability,  the  lord's  retainers  dwelt 
with  him  in  this  dungeon-like  abode.  There  were  pri- 
vate rooms  for  the  lord  and  his  lady,  but  these  were 
sparsely  and  uncomfortably  furnished.  Life  in  the 
"Keep"  centred  in  the  "great  hall"  (the  prototype 
of  our  modern  "living-room")  and  this  great  common 
assembly  and  eating-room  gave  the  name  to  the  type 
of  English  dwelling  immediately  succeeding  it — the 
"Hall." 

The  "Hall,"  a  name  preserved  in  such  places  as 
Hardwick  Hall,  Haddon  Hall,  Moreton  Hall  and  the 
like,  was  a  more  seemly  dwelling  than  the  forbidding 
' '  Keep, ' '  and  became  the  type  of  country  house  imme- 
'diately  preceding  the  Elizabethan  development.  Com- 
fort and  elegance  became  more  apparent  considerations 
than  defense,  and  some  attempts  were  made  at  archi- 
tectural gardening.  In  later  Jacobean  country  seats, 
at  the  time  when  all  English  architects  turned  their  eyes 
toward  Eenaissance  Italy,  and  when  England  was  filled 
with  Italian  designers  and  workmen,  the  formal  type  of 


Trowbrldge  A  Ackenimn.  Architects 

ENGLISH  DERIVATION   IN  AN  AMERICAN  COUNTRY  HOUSE 

True  to  its  English  Renaissance  derivation,  the  balustrades  are  distinctly  Italian,  while  the  pro- 
file of  the  roof,  the  use  of  materials  and  the  introduction  of  metal  casement  windows  are  purely 
English 

(A  residence  at  Glen  Cove,  Long  Island) 


Boring  &  Tilton,  Architects 

AN  ADAPTATION  OF  THE  ENGLISH  "TUDOR"  STYLE  IN  AN  AMERICAN  COUNTRY 

HOUSE 

The  style  which  marked  the  transitional  stage,  in  England,  from  Gothic  to  Renaissance  architec- 
ture, lends  itself  admirably  to  the  rendering  of  picturesque  yet  imposing  country  houses.  The 
flat,  pointed  arches,  the  "battlements"  and  the  use  of  brick  and  stone  are  characteristics 


ENGLISH  DERIVATIONS  135 

Italian  garden,  with  terraces,  grottos,  fountains,  stat- 
uary and  " temples,"  placed  its  permanent  stamp  on 
English  garden  design. 

•By  the  end  of  the  Sixteenth  Century  the  gloom  and 
much  of  the  primitive  austerity  of  the  "Keep"  had 
quite  disappeared.  The  only  surviving  feature  was  the 
' '  great  hall, ' '  but  this,  too,  was  rapidly  changing.  Its 
walls  were  treated  with  oak  panelling,  its  barrack-like 
barrenness  was  relieved  by  tapestries,  banners,  tro- 
phies of  the  chase  and  discarded  family  armour,  as  well 
as  rich  and  decorative  family  portraits.  Furniture, 
too,  ever  developing  in  variety,  comfort  and  appear- 
ance, contributed  toward  creating  an  environment  con- 
stantly more  livable. 

Throughout  the  Tudor  period  the ' '  Hall ' '  was  grad- 
ually changing  into  the  "Manor"  of  Elizabethan  and 
Jacobean  times.  Great  Tudor  country  places  such  as 
Button  Place,  Moreton  Old  Hall,  Hengrave  Hall  and 
Longleat  House  were  stamping  a  new  character  on 
English  domestic  architecture.  Many  of  the  houses 
of  this  time,  such  as  Longleat,  were  continued  later, 
with  subsequent  additions.  The  Elizabethan  garden 
front  of  Great  Tangley  Manor  (Frontispiece)  conceals, 
behind  its  pleasant  aspect,  an  early  Norman  Keep,  quite 
built  about  with  later  changes,  and  the  original  moat, 
spanned  by  charming  garden  bridges,  has  been  treated 
as  "ornamental  water,"  with  aquatic  plants. 

Under  Elizabeth,  England  became  more  prosperous 
and  more  internally  peaceful  than  at  any  earlier  time, 
so  that  the  Tudor  evolution  of  the  country  house  went 
on  unchecked,  and,  stimulated  by  sudden  fortunes  made 
by  prominent  families  in  foreign  trade  and  maritime 
adventure,  became  almost  modern  in  its  appearance. 
Some  great  houses  of  Elizabeth's  time  are  Hardwick 


136    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

Hall,  Holdenby,  Bramhall,  Knole,  Montacute  House, 
Wollaton  and  Westwood.  And,  as  in  the  instance  of 
Great  Tangley  Manor,  many  earlier  dwellings  were 
brought  up  to  date  with  extensive  renovations  and 
additions. 

Even  at  this  time  there  became  apparent  one  of  the 
English  country  house  characteristics  which  remains 
to-day  as  a  no  less  conspicuous  and  peculiar  charm — 
the  use  of  local  and  varied  building  materials.  Most 
of  the  great  houses  were  of  local  stone,  with  heavy  slate 
roofs,  lead  flashings  and  rain-leaders  and  leaded  case- 
ment windows.  Where  stone  was  scarce,  brick  was 
used,  sometimes  with  the  corners  and  window  and  door 
openings  of  stone.  In  some  counties,  notably  Kent, 
Surrey  and  Sussex,  half-timbered  construction  was  a 
favourite  Elizabethan  type.  In  many  cases  stone,  brick 
and  half -timber  were  all  used  in  the  same  house,  per- 
haps at  different  times,  and  this  diversity  of  colour  and 
texture,  as  well  as  the  varied  natures  of  successive 
additions,  developed  an  essentially  picturesque  type  of 
domestic  architecture  which  even  the  formal  classic 
edifices  of  the  Georgian  period  did  not  supplant,  and 
which  is  the  keynote  of  the  domestic  architecture  of 
England  to-day. 

Early  Jacobean  manors  continued  along  Eliza- 
bethan forms,  with  the  note  of  the  Italian  Renaissance 
becoming  increasingly  conspicuous,  especially  in  gar- 
den design.  The  Civil  War,  with  its  brief  gloom  of 
Cromwellian  Puritanism,  interrupted,  but  did  not  check 
the  consecutive  development  of  the  English  country 
house,  and  the  period  saw  the  erection  of  such  famous 
and  historic  mansions  as  Hatfield  House,  Audley  End, 
Thorpe  Hall,  Coombe  Abbey  and  Raynham  Park.  It 
was  the  period  of  Inigo  Jones  and  Sir  Christopher 


AN    ARCHITECTURAL    TYPE    WHICH    HAS    FURNISHED    MUCH 
LATTER-DAY      INSPIRATION 

(Old  houses  in  Hoi  born,  London) 


ixh  «'.  <;iMoi>lcfve,  An  hitrct 
A   MODERN   ADAPTATION  OF  ENGLISH    HALF-TIMBER  ARCHITECTURE 
The  decorative  value  of  half-timber  work  is  one  of  its  most  important  features  to-day 
(Dormitory  building  at  Princeton,  N.  J.) 


ENGLISH  DERIVATIONS  137 

Wren,  both  eager  exponents  of  the  Italian  Renais- 
sance, and  both  responsible  for  the  marked  change 
which  was  coming  over  the  English  country  house. 

Before  entering  into  a  discussion  of  the  chilling 
change  which  "the  Classic  Taste"  wrought  in  the  Eng- 
lish country  house,  it  would  be  well  to  note  in  review 
some  characteristic  details  which  are  to  be  associated 
with  dwellings  in  Gothic,  Tudor,  Elizabethan  and 
Jacobean  (Stuart)  times. 

In  late  Gothic  and  Tudor  houses,  doors  developed 
from  the  barn-like  battened  type  to  heavily  framed 
doors,  those  of  Tudor  times  usually  pointed  to  conform 
with  the  ' '  Tudor  arched ' '  openings  in  which  they  were 
hung.  Bare  stone  walls  were  hung  with  tapestries,  or 
the  coarse-woven  "arras,"  which,  however,  was  no 
longer  used  in  place  of  doors  between  rooms.  Panelled 
wainscots  were  frequent,  carved  with  Gothic  tracery, 
or  with  the  familiar  and  decorative  '  *  linenf old ' '  motif. 
The  ceilings  of  large  rooms  showed  the  heavy  open  tim- 
ber trusses  which  supported  the  roof,  and  these  trusses 
were  often  elaborately  carved. 

The  Elizabethan  period,  really  to  be  regarded  as 
"English  Eenaissance, "  was  as  much  a  transitional 
period,  in  some  respects,  as  the  Tudor.  It  has  been 
characterised  as  bearing  the  same  relation  to  fully 
developed  English  Renaissance  as  the  French  style  of 
Frangois  Premier  bears  to  fully  developed  French 
Renaissance. 

Thus  many  Elizabethan  houses  are  found  to  retain 
such  Gothic  features  as  towers  and  battlements,  but- 
tresses and  many  Gothic  mouldings,  while  introducing 
square-headed  windows  instead  of  pointed  Gothic  win- 
dows, gable  ends,  oriel  windows  and  large  bay  windows, 
all  in  leaded  glass,  with  sash  of  the  casement  type. 


138  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

The  "linenfold"  panel  of  Gothic  and  Tudor  times 
continued  in  popularity,  though  Gothic  tracery  motifs 
disappeared  from  domestic  architecture. 

Half-timbered  work  reached  a  high  stage  of  develop- 
ment in  Elizabethan  houses,  both  in  country  and  city. 
One  illustration  shows  a  characteristic  "row"  in  old 
Holborn,  in  London.  It  must  be  remembered,  however, 
that  half-timber  work  originated  in  Gothic  times, 
though  few  examples  of  such  early  date  remain  to-day, 
especially  in  England. 

The  interior  of  the  Elizabethan  house  began  to 
assume  many  characteristics  of  the  house  of  modern 
times.  There  was  the  * '  great  hall, ' '  and,  in  such  exam- 
ples as  Haddon  and  Hardwick,  the  "long  gallery." 
The  staircase  was  made  a  highly  decorative  architec- 
tural feature,  with  elaborately  carved  hand-rails  and 
newel-posts,  the  latter  usually  carved  in  the  form  of  an 
heraldic  animal.  The  staircase,  as  a  feature,  had  been 
largely  overlooked  until  the  Sixteenth  Century,  but 
from  the  Elizabethan  period  onward  never  again  sank 
into  architectural  insignificance. 

The  great,  cavernous  fire-places,  with  overhanging 
hood,  of  Gothic  type,  gave  place  to  smaller  fire-places 
with  elaborately  carved,  and  often  polychrome  treat- 
ment of  the  over-mantel  a  blazoned  coat  of  arms  usu- 
ally forming  the  central  motif.  In  subsequent  evolu- 
tion the  over-mantel  carving  gave  place  to  the  over- 
mantel painting,  with  carving  surrounding  and  framing 
it,  as  in  the  works  of  Grinling  Gibbons. 

Elizabethan  ceilings  were  of  figured  plaster,  in  inter- 
laced geometrical  patterns,  carried  out  with  consider- 
able freedom,  and  this  type  held  in  favour  until  the  end 
of  the  Seventeenth  Century.  Panelled  ceilings  were  then 
introduced,  and  these  in  turn  gave  place  to  the  alle- 


ENGLISH  DERIVATIONS  139 

gorically  painted  and  the  low-relief  plaster  ceilings 
of  Classic  character  which  came  with  the  Eighteenth 
Century  Classic  revival. 

During  the  Elizabethan  period,  floor  coverings  and 
furniture  upholstery  became  important  elements  of 
interior  comfort,  and,  through  the  Jacobean  period  and 
onward,  became  increasingly  more  plentiful  and  more 
like  similar  decorative  embellishments  of  to-day. 

Panelled  interiors  were  at  their  best  in  the  houses 
of  Elizabethan  and  Jacobean  times,  and  the  latter 
period  carried  to  more  luxurious  and  "modern"  de- 
velopments the  domestic  interior  improvements  of  the 
former  period. 

The  exteriors  of  Jacobean  country  houses  were 
enlivened  by  elaborate  bay  windows,  as  well  as  by  large 
groups  of  mullioned  windows  (the  "mullion"  of  a  win- 
dow being  the  member  dividing  one  opening  from 
another :  the  member  dividing  one  pane  of  glass  from 
another,  in  a  wooden  sash,  is  a  "muntin"). 

Dormer  windows  with  gable  ends,  often  fanciful  in 
contour,  diversified  Jacobean  roof  lines,  and  differed 
from  later  dormers  in  that  they  were  essentially  a  part 
of  the  wall,  rather  than  a  part  of  the  main  roof.  The 
entrances  of  Jacobean  houses  were  architecturally  elab- 
orated with  Italianesque  columns  or  pilasters  and  a 
profusion  of  carving,  often  heraldic,  while  gable  ends, 
especially  in  brick  buildings,  assumed  much  of  the 
diversity  and  picturesque  shape  of  the  gables  of  the 
Holland  Dutch  Eenaissance  type. 

An  Italian  detail  notably  characteristic  of  Jacobean 
architecture  was  the  semi-grotesque  terminal  figure, 
frequently  used  as  a  pilaster,  and  grotesque  forms  often 
appeared  in  the  form  of  finials.  The  typical  Jacobean 
finial,  however,  as  characteristic  as  it  was  alien  to 


140    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

many  other  details  of  the  style,  was  the  small,  stunted 
obelisk,  which  was  commonly  placed  on  the  posts  of 
garden  terrace  balustrades,  on  gate  posts  and  on  the 
gables. 

Intricate  carving,  both  in  stone  and  wood,  was  char- 
acteristic of  the  period,  and  this  detail  was  carried  out 
after  Italian  patterns  and  designs,  though  with  the 
spirit-  of  Elizabethan  and  earlier  English  execution. 
Many  interesting  and  quaint  forms  were  the  result,  all 
contributing  to  the  achievement  of  that  peculiar  pictu- 
resque richness  of  the  Jacobean  style. 

'But  at  the  close  of  the  Jacobean  period,  a  compara- 
tively artificial  fashion  for  formality  began  to  make 
itself  apparent  in  the  dwellings  of  the  reign  of  William 
and  Mary  and  Queen  Anne,  forecasting  the  Classic 
Kevival  of  the  Georgian  Period.  Houses  of  the  two 
Dutch  reigns,  however,  maintained  a  certain  element  of 
homelike  atmosphere  which  was  soon  to  vanish  in  the 
works  of  the  Georgian  Classicists. 

The  Jacobean  manor  was  still  more  picturesque  than 
formal,  but  the  Georgian  house  was  more  formal  than 
picturesque.  Wren  died  in  1723,  during  the  reign  of 
George  I,  and  the  architects  of  the  reigns  of  the  two 
succeeding  Georges  were  Gibbs,  Kent,  and  the  Adam 
Brothers. 

The  fashion  was  for  things  Italian,  then  for  the 
works  of  the  Georgian  Classic  Revival,  and  whatever 
was  attained  in  the  new  mode  of  scholarly  and  academic 
niceties  of  design  and  detail  was  more  than  lost  in  the 
passing  of  the  picturesque  informality  of  the  Tudor, 
Elizabethan  and  Jacobean  houses.  Many  titled  gentle- 
men were  architectural  " amateurs"  and  had  much  to 
do  with  the  design  and  garden  layouts  of  their  own 
places.  Such  a  scholar  and  an  amateur  was  the  Earl  of 


Albru  &  LJndeberg,  Architects 

ENGLISH  DERIVATION  IN  AN  AMERICAN  COUNTRY  HOUSE 

While  embodying  many  elements  characteristically  English,   there  is  expression    here 

of  a  certain  native  directness  of  handling 


Albro  <fc  Lindeberg,  Architects 

AN   AMERICAN   COUNTRY   HOUSE   OF  COMPOSITE   ORIGINS   SKILFULLY 
ADAPTED  AND  BLENDED 

The  general  effect  of  this  house  is  that  of  an  enlarged  English  cottage,  while  the  element 
of  Classicism  appears  in  the  Doric  columns,  and  of  Italian  derivation  in  the  pergola  treat- 
ment of  the  entrances.  The  effect  of  a  thatched  roof  is  contrived  by  an  ingenious  use 
of  wooden  shingles 


ENGLISH  DERIVATIONS  141 

Burlington,  who  published  a  portfolio  of  drawings  by 
Palladio,  called  the  " Antiquities  of  Borne."  This 
work,  with  other  similar  contemporary  publications, 
was  but  fuel  for  the  furnace  of  general  enthusiasm  over 
Classic  art  and  architecture,  and  the  Earl  was  lam- 
pooned with  one  of  those  gentle  but  terrific  satires  of 
Pope,  who  addressed  him  in  his  characteristic  vein : 

"  You  show  us  Rome  was  glorious,  not  profuse, 
And  pompous  buildings  once  were  things  of  use. 
Yet  shall,  my  lord,  your  just,  your  noble  rules 
Fill  half  the  land  with  imitating  fools; 
Who  random  drawings  from  your  sheets  shall  take, 
And  of  one  beauty  many  blunders  make; 
Load  some  vain  church  with  old  theatric  state, 
Turn  arcs  of  triumph  to  a  garden  gate. 

Shall  call  the  winds  through  long  arcades  to  roar. 
Proud  to  catch  cold  at  a  Venetian  door." 

The  Anglo-Classic  country  house  showed  radical 
changes  in  its  plan  as  compared  to  earlier  English 
dwellings.  The  plans  were  formal  and  symmetrical, 
developed  in  correspondingly  formal  and  symmetrical 
elevations.  Classic  pediments  and  colonnaded  porti- 
coes gave  an  air  of  dignity  to  the  houses,  and  in  doing 
so  deprived  them  of  their  earlier  atmosphere  of  domes- 
ticity. Interesting  and  irregular  roof-lines  disap- 
peared, and  the  sky-line  became  hard  and  formal,  with 
tall,  straight  chimneys  and  Classic  finial  urns. 

In  Jacobean  and  Elizabethan  houses,  dormer  win- 
dows were  a  portion  of  the  wall  of  the  house,  pictu- 
resquely carried  up  through  the  eaves  of  the  roof,  but 
the  Anglo-Classic  dormer  window  became  entirely  a 
part  of  the  roof.  Systematic  and  calculated  spacings 
of  windows  are  a  part  of  formal  designing,  but  are  not 
productive  of  informally  artistic  effects.  In  the  Classic 


142    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

school  of  design,  "picturesque  accidents"  are 
impossible. 

Within,  most  houses  of  the  period  did  not  belie  the 
impression  of  frigid  stateliness  conveyed  by  their  exte- 
riors. Kooms  were  high  and  imposing,  with  chaste 
ceilings  in  low  relief  plaster  patterns  by  the  Brothers 
Adam,  or  formal  fresco  paintings  by  Italian  decorators. 
The  settings  were  admirable  for  the  delicate  Classic 
furniture  of  the  Adams,  Sheraton  and  Hepplewhite,  and 
it  is  not  remarkable  that  fashion  embraced  as  a  relief 
from  so  much  dignity  the  quaint  fantasies  of  Chippen- 
dale's " Chinese  Taste"  in  furniture  and  decoration. 
Gone  were  the  mellow,  home-like  oak-rooms  of  Eliza- 
bethan and  Stuart  times,  as  well  as  the  more  formal, 
but  still  human,  interiors  of  the  period  of  William  and 
Mary  and  Queen  Anne. 

The  Anglo-Classic  style  of  the  Georgian  Period  was 
better  rendered  as  a  domestic  style  by  the  American 
colonists,  and  while  it  offers  many  admirable  architec- 
tural features,  its  ultra-formality  seems  in  need  of 
radical  modification  for  any  uses  other  than  the  expres- 
sion desired  in  a  dwelling  designed  to  be  the  setting  for 
large  and  elaborate  formal  receptions  and  impersonal 
entertainment.  Georgian  Classic  architecture  has  not 
enough  points  of  contact  with  our  life  of  to-day  to  make 
it  a  popular  style  for  the  country  house,  except  it  be 
Georgian  Classic  humanised  and  brought  nearer  to  us 
in  the  works  of  the  American  Colonial  builders. 

It  is  to  be  said,  however,  that  the  formal  city  resi- 
dence or  the  fashionable  club  or  exclusive  shop  may 
find  great  architectural  inspiration  in  the  pure  Geor- 
gian style,  which  possesses  exactly  that  degree  of 
dignity,  impersonality  and  urbanity  most  desired  in 
buildings  of  this  sort. 


II.  T.  I,in<lcl>erg,  Architect  (Albro  &  Lindeberg) 

TWO  MODERN  ENGLISH  DERIVATIONS  IN  AMERICAN  COUNTRY  HOTSES 
The  low  picturesque  roof  line  is  essentially  characteristic  of  modern  English  domestic  archi- 
tecture, while  the  introduction  of  the  formal  Italian  Palladian  entrance  is  a  daring  but 
effective  stroke  of  individuality  in  design 


ENGLISH  DERIVATIONS  143 

A  reflection  of  an  artificial  taste  in  its  own  time,  the 
style  can  be  but  doubly  artificial  if  inappropriately 
employed  in  this  country  to-day. 

Strong  Classic  influences  remained  in  force  until 
the  end  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  and  appeared  even 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  when  a 
period  of  architectural  chaos  began,  out  of  which 
loomed  such  architectural  mistakes  as  the  Ruskinian 
Gothic  Revival  and  such  architectural  fantasies  as  the 
efforts  of  Charles  Eastlake. 

Mention  has  been  made  elsewhere  of  Mr.  Ruskin's 
unsuccessful  attempt  to  illumine  architectural  gloom 
with  the  "Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture."  The  inept 
monuments  of  the  period  still  exist,  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic,  to  bear  testimony  to  the  unwisdom  of  any 
arbitrary  attempt  to  popularise  an  architectural  style. 
Of  Eastlake  less  is  known,  and  of  the  two  he  was,  per- 
haps, more  sincere  than  Ruskin,  and  had  a  more  lively 
vision.  Eastlake 's  vision  was  the  creation  of  a  style  of 
architecture  and  furniture  which  was  to  be,  if  nothing 
else,  picturesque,  and  based  on  no  stylistic  precedent. 
Eastlake 's  mistake  lay  in  ignoring  the  fact  that  the 
picturesque,  in  architecture  or  any  other  art,  happens. 
It  is  not  the  result  of  deliberate  intention,  and  becomes 
bizarre  or  even  actually  unpleasant  in  direct  proportion 
to  the  amount  of  conscious  effort  which  has  gone  into  its 
contrivance. 

Eastlake  published  a  book  in  1870,  and  for  a  time 
his  " style"  found  expression  in  hundreds  of  small 
houses  in  England  and  America.  Many  of  these  we 
still  have  with  us,  mute  testimonials  to  an  unenlightened 
groping  for  the  '  *  artistic. ' '  There  were  pointed  gables ; 
there  were  queer  windows  of  " bull's-eye"  glass  delib- 
erately differing  in  kind  and  size,  scattered  here  and 


144    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

there  in  the  walls ;  there  were  galaxies  of  turned  spin- 
dles, explosions  of  sunflowers  and  rosettes,  and  riots  of 
jig-saw  traceries  dripping  from  the  eaves.  -Decent 
carpenter  work  was  scalloped,  perforated  and  scroll- 
sawed,  and  the  interiors,  in  a  few  survivals  of  to-day, 
seem  aesthetic  curiosities  indeed,  restlessly  decorated 
with  obviously  European-Oriental  motifs,  and  embel- 
lished with  fans,  peacock  feathers  and  '  *  vases. ' '  With- 
out apparent  or  sufficient  reason,  glazed  tiles  of  gay 
colours  were  built  into  wooden  houses,  and  gable  ends 
were  embellished  with  weird  mosaics  of  broken  glass, 
shells  and  pebbles  imbedded  in  stucco. 

At  its  best  the  Eastlake  style  was,  undeniably,  pic- 
turesque, and  helped  to  make  possible  the  later  accept- 
ance of  a  more  legitimately  picturesque  style. 

At  its  worst  the  Eastlake  style  was  one  of  the  most 
fantastic  and  nonsensical  parodies  on  structural  and 
architectural  effort  that  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

With  the  rise  of  William  Morris  and  his  school, 
about  1858,  a  new  era  dawned  in  England  in  the  realm 
of  thought  on  arts  and  crafts.  While  Morris  himself 
was  an  artist  and  a  craftsman,  and  essayed  no  con- 
spicuous works  in  architecture,  his  tremendous  signifi- 
cance lies  in  the  fact  that  he  taught  people  to  think 
honestly  about  things  artistic,  and  to  appreciate  sin- 
cerity in  artistic  effort.  Such  absurdities  as  the  hybrid 
manifestations  of  the  Eastlakian  school  became  intoler- 
able, and  the  new  creed  demanded  honest  construction, 
expressive  construction,  and  appropriate  ornament  in 
all  things.  Morris,  Eossetti,  'Burne  Jones,  Walter 
Crane,  F.  Madox  Brown,  and  a  few  others,  set  about 
making  honest  designs,  and  the  new  spirit  immediately 
made  itself  felt  in  contemporary  architecture. 

Webb  and  Shaw  were  the  forerunners  of  such  great 


ENGLISH  DERIVATIONS  145 

modern  English  architects  as  Voysey,  Lutyens,  Bidlake, 
Baillie-Scott,  E.  Norman  Shaw,  Dawber  and  a  host  of 
others.  And  these  are  the  architects  of  the  modern 
English  country  house,  which  attempted  in  its  style  no 
arbitrary  revival  of  any  historic  type,  but  rather  an 
informal  and  essentially  picturesque  composite  of  all 
that  was  most  charming  in  the  earlier  works  of  Tudor, 
Elizabethan  and  Jacobean  times,  blended,  adapted  and 
modernised  to  express  modern  tastes  and  requirements. 

The  modern  English  country  house  owes  its  charac- 
teristic charm  to  several  facts  in  its  composition. 

It  is  historic,  in  that  it  has  borrowed  chimneys, 
leaded  casements,  bits  of  half -timber  work  and  the  like 
from  the  time-hallowed  Keeps  and  Manor  Houses  of  its 
own  land,  built  by  the  forefathers  of  the  present 
builders. 

It  is  indigenous,  because  its  materials  as  well  as  its 
design  belong  to  the  land.  The  modern  English  archi- 
tects have  advisedly  returned  to  the  admirable  practice 
of  making  the  most  of  local  materials,  and  have  also 
realised  the  endless  possibilities  of  texture  and  colour 
in  different  materials,  and  the  picturesque  possibilities 
of  mingling  many  different  materials  in  the  same  house. 

It  is  picturesque  because  it  expresses  inherited  his- 
toric forms  in  terms  of  local  and  varied  materials,  and 
is  successfully  picturesque  because  this  element  has  not 
been  nervously  striven  for  in  the  design. 

It  is  expressive,  because  its  whole  conception  is 
based  on  a  natural  understanding  of  the  informality 
and  domesticity  of  English  country  life. 

It  should  be  apparent  that  any  fabric  so  plainly  an 

outgrowth  of  its  own  soil,  and  so  entirely  an  expression 

of  the  national  traits  and  tastes  which  called  it  into 

being,  must  be  a  difficult  one  to  successfully  transplant 

10 


146     THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

or  to  adapt  in  another  land  and  to  express  and  meet 
other  tastes  and  requirements. 

It  is  a  fact,  however,  that  successful  American  ex- 
pressions of  the  English  type  of  country  house  are 
numerous.  And  such  expressions  are  at  their  best  when 
they  achieve  some  measure  of  the  American  ideas  and 
requirements  of  their  architects  and  owners,  blended 
with  their  English  inspiration.  No  literal  copy  can  be 
said  to  possess  architectural  merit  other  than  as  a  study 
in  exactitude  and  accuracy.  Nor  can  a  copy  possess 
any  architectural  significance  for  the  reason  that  archi- 
tectural design  must,  above  all  else,  be  expressive — and 
a  copy  can  express  nothing  but  lack  of  expression. 

The  English  country  house  is  to  be  regarded  as  a 
world-wide  inspiration  chiefly  for  the  reason  that  it 
expresses  the  country  house  essential  of  domesticity  in 
architectural  terms  more  potently  than  any  other  type 
or  nationality  of  dwelling,  with  the  possible  exception 
of  the  Early  American  type.  The  French  chateau  seems 
the  setting  for  a  comparatively  artificial  and  formal 
kind  of  life ;  the  Italian  villa  is,  perhaps,  more  romantic 
and  more  genuine,  but  it  is  no  less  formal  and  cere- 
monial; the  Spanish  hacienda  is  a  dwelling,  but,  unless 
greatly  modified,  an  alien  abode  with  which  we  have  no 
racial  affinity. 

This  essential  quality  of  domesticity,  this  uncon- 
scious bond  which  most  of  us  feel  with  the  homes  of 
our  ancestors,  the  homes  of  our  own  people,  should 
exonerate  our  architects  from  any  charge  of  Anglo- 
mania or  of  stylistic  plagiarism.  To  forbid  our  archi- 
tects to  adapt  the  English  type  of  country  house  would 
be  nearly  as  unreasonable  as  to  forbid  landscape 
painters  to  use  green  in  painting  trees,  or  to  suggest 
that  we  devise  a  new  speech.  The  English  style  is  the 


AN  ILLUSTRATION  OF  THE  PLEASING  INFORMALITY  OF  MODERN  ENGLISH 

DOMESTIC  ARCHITECTURE 
These  three  houses  form  part  of  a  typical  English  "neighbourhood"  development 


A  TYPICAL  MODERN  ENGLISH  SUBURBAN  HOUSE 

The  element  of  picturesque  domesticity  is  the  most  conspicuous  characteristic  of  the 
modern  English  dwelling 


ENGLISH  DERIVATIONS  147 

happy  medium,  whether  for  the  large  or  the  small  coun- 
try house,  and  is  likely  to  remain  so  for  some  time  to 
come. 

The  art  of  architectural  adaptation  is  becoming 
yearly  better  understood  and  more  intelligently  prac- 
tised. Styles  are  being  assimilated  and  worthily 
expressed  instead  of  half-understood  and  ignorantly 
exploited. 

Certain  architects  have  become  attracted  to  certain 
styles,  and  the  sympathy  and  interest  which  they  have 
brought  to  the  task  of  adaptation  has  produced  results 
of  unquestionable  merit. 

It  is  doubtful  if  one  could  illustrate  a  more  splendid 
monument  of  English  derivation  in  an  American  coun- 
try dwelling  than  the  great  stone  house  at  Glen  Cove, 
by  Trowbridge  and  Ackerman.  Other  American  archi- 
tects who  have  attained  remarkable  success  in  English 
derivations  are  Wilson  Eyre,  Grosvenor  Atterbury, 
Stevenson  and  Wheeler,  John  Russell  Pope,  Mellor  and 
Meigs,  and,  notably,  H.  T.  Lindeberg.  Mr.  Linde- 
berg's  country  houses,  of  which  several  are  illustrated, 
are  remarkable  in  that  they  show  such  strong  dual 
expression — English  and  American.  They  typify 
clean-cut,  straightforward  and  intelligent  adaptation 
at  its  best.  Such  derivations  are  expressive  of  sound 
and  well-advised  architectural  conviction,  rather  than 
(as  some  critics  would  haveua  believe)  hesitating  archi- 
tectural imitation. 

It  is  true  that  vary  few  American  adaptations  of  the 
modern  English  country  house  attain  such  free  render- 
ing of  the  picturesque  as  tht  work  of  British  architects, 
and  the  reason  is  to  be  found  rather  in  temperamental 
differences  than  in  architectural  differences.  One  has 
often  heard  it  deplored  that  we  lack,  in  America,  the 


148    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

picturesque  local  materials  which  contribute  so  largely 
to  the  charm  of  the  modern  English  country  house.  To 
attempt  so  superficial  an  answer  to  account  for  the 
difference,  however,  is  beside  the  point.  There  are,  in 
America,  a  wealth  and  variety  of  interesting  building 
materials,  both  natural  and  manufactured,  if  one  were 
to  cite  only  the  ever-interesting  Chestnut  Hill  ledge- 
stone,  near  Philadelphia,  so  effectively  used  by  the 
architects  of  that  vicinity. 

It  is  true  that  the  'British  architect  may  employ  a 
variety  of  slates  and  tiles  and  stones  which  we  lack — 
but  even  supposing  our  architects  (speaking  of  the 
average)  could  avail  themselves  of  these  materials, 
there  would  still  be  a  conspicuous  difference  in  the 
finished  house. 

For  this,  the  client  is  accountable.  The  average 
American,  as  compared  to  the  Englishman,  is  strangely 
self-conscious  about  things  of  intimate  personal  rela- 
tion. He  will  rear  ''skyscraper"  office  buildings  and 
hotels  that  amaze  the  whole  world ;  he  will  launch  archi- 
tectural and  engineering  projects  of  colossal  magni- 
tude, and  carry  them  through  with  brilliant  success. 
But  when  the  matter  of  his  own  house  comes  under  his 
consideration,  he  becomes  astonishingly  timid  and  un- 
imaginative. He  has  deep  misgivings  about  a  house 
which  will  be  different  from  those  of  his  neighbours. 
He  and  his  wife,  perhaps,  have  both  travelled  in  Eng- 
land and  admired  the  English  country  house.  It  is, 
in  fact,  their  ideal — but  they  are  afraid  that  their 
friends,  or  even  passersby  who  are  entire  strangers, 
will  laugh  at  the  odd  windows  and  unusual  chimneys, 
and  will  call  " queer"  that  which  was  intended  to  be 
picturesque. 

Eeal  appreciation  of  the  picturesque,  on  its  own 


ENGLISH  DERIVATIONS  149 

merits,  is,  after  all,  a  cultivated  appreciation,  and  this 
fact,  coupled  with  an  inborn  timidity  where  outside 
opinion  is  concerned,  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the  differ- 
ences between  the  modern  English  country  house  and 
its  American  adaptation. 

Before  departing  from  the  statement  of  this  charge 
of  ''architectural  timidity"  on  the  part  of  the  average 
American  client,  the  writer  would  like  to  paraphrase 
at  large  a  few  comments  which  he  made  in  a  magazine 
essay  called  "The  English  Point  of  View  in  Archi- 
tecture "(written  for  "Arts  and  Decoration"},  in  order 
to  make  the  matter  more  specific  and  point  a  moral. 

In  the  practice  of  architecture  this  fearless  and 
splendidly  self-assured  English  point  of  view  has  made 
possible  the  evolution  of  a  type  of  country  house  the 
like  of  which,  if  our  present  personal  timidity  and  self- 
consciousness  endure,  will  never  become  prevalent  in 
America. 

It  must  always  be  remembered  that  American  archi- 
tects, as  a  class,  are  not  entirely  responsible  for  the 
finished  aspect  of  the  average  country  house,  inasmuch 
as  they  are  very  often  coerced  at  every  turn  by  the 
requirements,  restrictions  and  interdictions  imposed 
upon  them  by  their  clients — and,  worst  of  all,  by  the 
indirectly  delivered  "advice"  and  opinions  of  their 
clients'  officious  friends. 

Let  us  take  a  modern  English  country  house  which 
is  typical,  and  a  house  which  a  couple  of  prospective 
home  builders  have  decided  is,  beyond  peradventure, 
the  '  *  ideal  of  their  dreams. ' '  It  has  a  quaint,  rambling 
plan,  well  adapted  for  future  enlargement,  with  a  wing 
thrown  out,  perhaps,  at  a  slanting  angle  from  the  house. 
The  roof  line  is  varied  and  diverse,  following  the  inte- 
rior planning  of  the  house — here  low,  there  high,  with 


150    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

an  infinity  of  varied  pitch  and  unexpected  angle,  differ- 
ing with  every  visual  slant  of  the  observer.  The  win- 
dows and  chimneys  are  of  the  same  unexpected  sort, 
and  are  picturesque  because  they  occur  only  where  the 
needs  of  the  rooms  inside  dictate  their  placement.  As 
the  house  is  designed  first  from  the  inside,  its  exterior 
naturally  shows  unexpected  features  which  are  impos- 
sible to  create  externally,  for  superficial  effect.  As 
another  picturesque  detail,  the  windows  are  of  the 
casement  type,  with  small  leaded  panes — a  type  of 
window  admired  by  the  average  American  home  builder 
almost  as  much  as  it  is  shunned.  Everywhere  in  the 
English  house  are  quaint  and  charming  surprises — a 
vertical  sundial  let  into  the  wall;  a  low,  hooded  door 
giving  on  a  flagged  terrace,  a  hand-wrought  lead  or 
copper  leader-head  for  the  rain  pipe,  or  a  riot  of  odd 
little  windows  in  a  cluster. 

All  these  things  contribute  to  the  general  impression 
that  the  house  is  more  than  a  mere  house,  and  must  be 
the  home  of  a  person  of  individual  tastes  and  an  appre- 
ciation for  the  picturesque. 

Inside,  the  house  is  pervaded  by  the  same  feeling. 
There  are  inglenooks,  window-seats  and  quaint  stair- 
ways, and  at  some  unexpected  place,  a  great  oaken 
beam  may  run  across  a  room,  or  overhead  in  a  passage. 
The  house  is  a  thing  of  continual  charm — of  a  charm 
so  diverse  that  the  dweller  beneath  its  roof  never  grows 
tired,  and  his  guest  may  stay  a  week  without  discover- 
ing every  nook  and  corner. 

Now  for  the  average  American  client,  who  goes  to 
his  architect  (whom  he  has  probably  selected  with 
much  misgiving  and  trepidation),  showing,  with  an  air 
of  apparent  finality,  a  picture  of  this  house,  which,  with 
a  few  very  inconsequential  changes,  embodies  every 


ENGLISH  DERIVATIONS  151 

wish  of  himself  and  his  wife.  The  architect  is  de- 
lighted, and  welcomes  this  client  as  a  man  after  his 
own  fancy.  With  as  much  dispatch  as  possible  he 
prepares  the  first  set  of  drawings,  which  delineate  a 
house  as  nearly  as  possible  patterned  after  the  client's 
beau  ideal. 

The  sketches  presented,  the  prospective  builder  may 
admire  them  greatly  and  may  even  (at  this  early  stage) 
congratulate  the  architect  upon  the  success  with  which 
he  has  rendered  the  English  idea  of  a  country  house. 
He  takes  the  drawings  to  show  to  his  wife  and  friends, 
thus  unknowingly  bidding  farewell  to  his  chances  of 
ultimately  attaining  the  house  which  would  have  archi- 
tecturally reflected  his  actual  and  honest  tastes. 

His  friends — that  ubiquitous  and  omniscient  jury 
which  nearly  every  American  elects  to  pass  on  matters 
wherein  he  might  much  better  be  his  own  law — tell  him 
many  things  which  they  feel  he  ought  to  be  warned 
against.  The  roof  is  "queer" — "far  too  eccentric," 
"the  architect  must  be  crazy,"  the  plan  is  "imprac- 
tical." A  few  of  these  sapient  advices  effectively  dis- 
pose of  the  interesting  roof,  and  the  builder  makes  a 
note  to  direct  his  architect  to  substitute  a  roof  exactly 
like  the  roof  of  a  neighbouring  house.  So  it  goes  with 
the  quaint  windows  and  picturesque  chimneys.  His  wife 
has  always  had  romantic  associations  with  casement 
windows,  but  one  of  her  friends  (whose  knowledge  is 
superior  to  that  of  the  architect)  tells  her  that  they 
are  draughty,  hard  to  clean  and  easily  forced  by  burg- 
lars. Consequently  the  ordinary  type  of  American 
"double-hung"  window  is  installed — a  window  no  less 
draughty,  no  less  difficult  to  clean  and  more  easily 
forced  open  than  any  other  type.  Another  friend  is 
convinced  that  the  chimneys  will  not  draw.  This  he 


152    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

imputes  to  the  fact  that  they  are  designed,  externally, 
along  picturesque  lines — and  the  builder  makes  a  note 
to  have  the  architect  change  to  ordinary  chimneys. 

All  the  remaining  features  which  first  stimulated 
his  admiration  for  the  original  house  are  eliminated, 
one  by  one,  by  his  assiduous  friends,  who  are  deter- 
mined that  he  shall  not  be  disappointed  in  his  house. 
In  the  interior,  he  has  become  convinced  that  varying 
floor-levels  will  not  be  practical,  and  that  the  great 
oak  beam  across  the  hall,  with  a  quaint  carved  motto 
of  welcome,  will  "look  queer,"  and  might  better  be  of 
concealed  iron. 

With  these  few  changes,  which  seem  to  him  quite 
trivial,  he  returns  to  the  architect  with  what  is  left  of 
the  original  scheme,  and  explains.  If  the  architect  has 
built  many  country  houses,  he  remains  patiently  silent, 
and  takes  notes. 

The  work  proceeds  (if  the  client  has  not  been  effec- 
tually discouraged  by  his  friends  from  the  whole  idea 
of  building) ,  and  the  house  is  erected.  The  client  feels 
a  little  disappointed  as  he  visits  the  building  from  time 
to  time,  but  trusts  that  the  finished  house  will  be  to  his 
liking;  doubtless  it  will,  he  reassures  himself,  remem- 
bering the  volume  of  excellent  "practical"  advice  he 
has  had  from  his  friends. 

It  is  finished,  and  he  is  aware  of  a  keen  disappoint- 
ment. He  is  even  likely  to  wave  the  original  drawing 
in  the  face  of  the  architect,  asking  why  the  original 
idea  was  not  carried  out  as  agreed  in  the  first  con- 
ference. The  architect  may  point  out,  in  a  mild  way, 
that  every  salient  feature  in  the  original  drawings  was 
ordered  changed  in  the  finals,  to  something  safe,  con- 
servative— and  commonplace.  The  two  are  seldom 
good  friends  after  this  interview,  and  the  owner  of  the 


ENGLISH  DERIVATIONS  153 

house  lives  in  it  unhappily  ever  afterward,  deriving 
what  satisfaction  he  may  from  telling  his  friends  what 
a  stupid  idiot  he  was  unfortunate  enough  to  employ 
for  an  architect.  His  friends,  on  the  other  hand,  who 
are  actually  more  than  half  responsible  for  the  unhappy 
house,  find  an  equal  degree  of  gratification  in  consoling 
the  owner  with  thoughts  of  how  much  worse  it  might 
have  been  bungled  if  it  had  been  left  entirely  to  the 
architect.  "The  moral — which  is  plain — is  easily  for- 
mulated in  the  statement  that  if  we  consistently  adhered 
to  our  honest  personal  desires,  and  consulted  rather 
than  coerced  our  architects,  we  might  look  forward 
to  the  attainment  of  a  country  house  comparable  in 
aesthetic  and  picturesque  values  with  the  works  of  the 
English  architects. ' ' 

In  some  respects  the  American  architect  has  devel- 
oped a  more  practical  dwelling,  especially  in  the  plan. 
The  American  country  house  usually  contains  more 
large  rooms,  and  these  better  lighted,  than  an  English 
country  house  of  corresponding  type.  And  in  such 
matters  as  heating  and  plumbing  the  American  house 
is  more  livable  and  more  efficient.  Many  English  coun- 
try houses,  charming  to  look  upon  from  the  outside, 
betray  in  their  plans  an  undue  tendency  to  waste  space 
with  unnecessary  corridors  and  passages,  and  to  sacri- 
fice large  rooms  to  a  great  number  of  small  rooms. 

English  plans,  however,  offer  a  number  of  very 
excellent  points,  at  least  two  of  which  have  been  used 
with  conspicuous  success  and  credit  by  American  archi- 
tects. These  two  points  are  the  "garden  front"  and 
the  "office" — the  latter,  as  will  be  seen,  finding  use 
only  on  the  large  estate.  The  idea  of  a  "  garden  front,  * ' 
however,  may  be  developed  attractively  in  the  house  of 
moderate  size,  or  even  the  cottage. 


154    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

For  some  time  the  American  householder  devoted 
most  of  his  thought  to  the  impression  which  his  dwelling 
would  create  when  viewed  from  the  front,  either  as  one 
drove  up  to  it,  or  passed  along  the  road.  The  front, 
then,  to  be  distinguished  now  as  the  ' '  entrance  front, ' ' 
was  made  imposing  and  "architectural,"  with  the  ser- 
vice wing  hidden  at  the  rear,  and  usually  quite  dis- 
figuring the  aspect  of  the  house  from  that  direction. 

The  English,  for  the  most  part,  have  long  been 
fond  of  living  in  their  gardens,  which  were  sheltered 
from  the  curious  gaze  of  the  public  by  being  laid  out  at 
the  rear  of  the  house.  Much  of  the  life  of  the  English 
place  is  in  the  garden,  where  tea  is  often  served,  and 
where  the  family  gathers,  after  dinner,  on  the  garden 
terrace,  or  enjoys  an  after-breakfast  walk.  The  "gar- 
den front,"  then,  or  the  aspect  of  the  house  from  the 
rear,  assumes  to  the  English  architect  and  owner  an 
importance  equal  to  that  of  the  "entrance  front," — or 
perhaps  even  a  greater  importance.  The  service  wing, 
then,  containing  the  kitchen  and  laundry,  was  extended 
to  one  side  and  concealed,  to  some  extent,  by  the  plant- 
ing of  trees,  so  that  both  front  and  rear  of  the  house — 
both,  in  fact,  fronts — might  be  architecturally  treated. 
In  some  cases,  both  English  houses  and  American 
adaptations,  the  entrance  front  has  been  sacrificed  to 
the  garden  front,  so  that  the  latter  presents  a  beautiful 
symmetry,  while  the  former  must,  of  necessity,  be 
broken  by  the  service  wing.  Several  examples  appear 
among  the  illustrations. 

It  would  obviously  be  absurd  to  design  a  house 
with  an  attractive  "garden  front"  if  there  were  no 
garden  from  which  to  view  it,  but  when  the  plans 
anticipate  a  garden,  the  American  architect  owes  much 
to  the  British  architect  in  the  matter  of  beautifying 


ENGLISH  DERIVATIONS  155 

the  rear  elevation.  And  if  the  desire  to  develop  a 
"garden  front"  leads  to  a  desire  to  develop,  also,  a 
really  livable  garden,  so  much  the  better  for  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  American  country  house  in  general. 

The  l '  office ' '  which  is  included  in  the  plans  of  most 
of  the  larger  English  country  houses  is  a  room  on  the 
first  floor  provided  for  the  purpose  of  dealing  with 
coachmen,  chauffeurs,  gardeners  and  other  employees 
of  a  large  estate.  Here  wages  are  paid,  accounts  kept, 
complaints  heard,  and  all  the  business  of  the  place 
transacted  apart  from  the  rest  of  the  house,  for  the 
' l  office ' '  is  provided  with  its  own  outer  door  and  vesti- 
bule, so  that  there  is  no  need  for  the  employees  invad- 
ing the  master's  private  library  or  study. 

The  living  room,  of  course,  is  developed  from  the 
early  English  country  house,  and  was  welcomed  in  this 
country  as  more  than  a  mere  substitute  for  the  formal 
"parlours"  of  the  more  dismal  period  of  American 
architecture.  The  importance  of  the  "great  hall"  in 
the  historic  English  country  houses  was  taken  up 
earlier  in  this  chapter,  and  the  importance  of  its  direct 
descendant,  the  American  "living  room,"  is  too  much 
a  part  of  our  daily  lives  to  require  any  discussion  here. 

Before  closing  the  tale  of  our  architectural  debt  to 
England,  a  few  comments  should  be  made  upon  the 
great  successes  attained  by  the  modern  English  archi- 
tects in  "community"  or  "neighbourhood"  planning, 
as  compared  with  most  American  efforts  in  that 
direction. 

The  English  "neighbourhood"  groups  of  houses, 
analogous  to  our  American  "  real  estate  developments," 
show  twro  highly  desirable  traits  which  we  would  do 
well  to  emulate:  unity  and  diversity,  skilfully  com- 
bined. The  entire  architectural  character  of  the 


156  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

English  "group"  of  cottages  is  consistent  and  unified, 
while  each  individual  cottage  shows  picturesque  differ- 
ences from  its  neighbours,  thus  defeating  the  monotony 
of  the  "rows"  of  identical  (and  usually  individually 
abominable)  dwellings  put  up  by  the  speculative 
builder. 

It  will  be  shown  in  the  second  part  of  this  book  that 
architectural  merit  is  a  most  significant  asset  to  houses 
built  by  a  real-estate  operator — an  asset  so  tangible 
that  it  should  not  need  to  be  urged  in  the  cause  of 
"better  architecture"  when  it  may  be  practically 
pointed  out  to  be  a  conservative  investment. 

American  architecture  owes  much  to  English  archi- 
tecture, but  in  no  types  of  building  to  such  a  degree 
as  in  the  country  house  and  the  school  or  college  build- 
ing. Of  these,  the  country  house  must  assume  the 
greater  part  of  the  debt,  because  it  has  been  a  model 
and  an  inspiration  to  us — more  than  an  architectural 
model  characterised  by  peculiarly  picturesque  elements 
of  domesticity.  The  English  house  is  a  symbol — an 
expression  in  architectural  terms  of  a  certain  concep- 
tion of  country  life  which  the  American  has  long  shared, 
instinctively,  with  the  Englishman.  It  is  a  question 
of  racial  affinity,  or  even  identity,  rather  than  a  mere 
architectural  fashion.  It  is  natural  and  obvious  that, 
with  certain  superficial  modifications  dictated  by 
national  traits  and  "many  inventions,"  we  should  feel 
most  at  home  in  houses  patterned  after  those  of  our 
ancestors. 


CHAPTER  VII 

LATIN  DERIVATIONS  IN  AMERICAN 
ARCHITECTURE 

ARCHITECTURAL  TYPES  ADAPTED  FROM  ITALY,  FRANCE  AND 
SPAIN.  THE  ITALIAN  VILLA  IN  AMERICA.  THE  IMPOR- 
TANT PLACE  OF  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE  ARCHITECTURE. 
FRENCH  INFLUENCES  IN  CHATEAUX,  MODERN  CITY 
HOUSES  AND  HOTELS.  A  LITTLE  APPRECIATED  ARCHI- 
TECTURAL LEGACY  FROM  SPAIN 


LLTIN  derivations  in  American  architecture,  mean- 
ing all  that  have  come  to  us  from  Italy  and 
France  and  Spain,  are  of  peculiar  importance  in 
the  cultivation  of  an  appreciative  familiarity  with 
architectural  forms  and  types.  And  if  the  thought  of 
Italian  derivations  calls  most  vividly  to  mind  the  Amer- 
ican adaptation  of  the  Italian  villa,  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  this  derivation  is  of  comparatively  less 
importance  than  Italian  influences  in  other  types  of 
building. 

That  so  little  has  come  to  us  from  Spain  is  remark- 
able, and  should  be  taken  rather  as  a  lack  of  apprecia- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  architect  than  as  an  evidence  of 
ir  eagre  or  unavailable  material  in  Spain. 

In  an  earlier  chapter  it  was  shown  how  the  archi- 
tecture of  the  Italian  Renaissance,  based  on  a  revival 
of  Classic  forms,  emerged  from  the  involved  maze  of 
Mediaeval  Gothic  architecture,  and  some  analysis  of  the 
nature  of  Renaissance  architecture,  in  Italy  and  in 
other  European  countries,  was  also  presented. 

The  architectural  style  of  the  Renaissance  is  a  -flex- 
ible style  —  a  style  which  lends  itself  to  fluent  archi- 
tectural expression  in  many  types  of  building.  It  is  a 
style  characterised  by  nicety  of  proportion  in  its  larger 

167 


158    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

members,  and  by  nicety  of  scale  in  its  detail.  Renais- 
sance mouldings,  especially  the  Italian,  are  refined  and 
delicate.  Severe  compositions  of  arch  and  column  or 
arch  and  pilaster  may  be  relieved  and  humanised  by 
conventional  ornament,  or  by  decorations  in  fresco  or 
sgraffito.  The  architecture  evolved  by  the  Renaissance 
Italian  masters  is  so  well  studied,  as  architecture,  that 
it  is  suitable  in  many  adaptations,  ranging  through 
churches,  theatres,  libraries,  museums,  clubs  and  im- 
portant city  buildings,  besides  offering  an  inexhaustible 
mine  of  inspiration  for  country  villas  and  for  garden 
architecture.  Of  the  Italian  villa  and  its  garden,  as 
well  as  the  American  adaptation  thereof,  more  will  be 
said  later. 

No  study  of  the  influence  of  the  architecture  of  the 
Italian  Renaissance  in  America  could  be  either  complete 
or  intelligent  without  familiarity  with  the  works  of 
the  great  architectural  firm  of  McKim,  Mead  &  White. 
These  architects  believed  in  Italian  architecture  as 
sincerely  as  H.  H.  Richardson  believed  in  'Byzantine 
and  Romanesque  architecture.  The  work  of  McKim, 
Mead  &  White,  indeed,  and  of  the  many  younger  archi- 
tects who  were  trained  in  that  draughting  room,  placed 
an  ineradicable  stamp  on  American  architecture,  from 
1894  onward,  and  effected,  as  well,  a  revival  of  the 
Italian  style  which  has  dictated  the  design  of  many  of 
the  country's  most  notable  buildings. 

One  member  of  the  firm,  Stanford  White,  was  a 
master  of  detail,  a  connoisseur  of  the  finest  points  of 
architectural  ornament  and  decoration.  The  small 
marble  library  in  New  York,  housing  the  private  col- 
lection of  the  late  J.  P.  Morgan,  is  unanimously 
accorded  a  place  among  the  best  ten,  if  not  the  best 
five,  American  achievements  in  architecture. 


O 


McKim,  Meatl  &  White,  Architects 

A  DETAIL  OF  PURE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE  DERIVATION 

This  Palladian  entrance  loggia  is  peculiarly  illustrative  of  the  graceful  architectural 

adaptability  of  the  style  of  the  Italian  Renaissance 

(Private  library  of  the  late  J.  P.  Morgan) 


LATIN  DERIVATIONS  159 

To  say  that  this  building,  or  the  great  Public 
Library  in  Boston,  is  a  masterpiece  of  American  archi- 
tecture is,  in  the  matter  of  style,  a  little  misleading. 
They  are  Italian,  rendered  by  American  architects,  as 
are  most  of  the  works  of  McKim,  Mead  &  White.  Few 
modern  architects  have  approached  in  attainment  the 
genius  of  this  firm  in  interpreting  to-day,  with  real 
finesse  and  understanding,  the  spirit  of  Italian  Kenais- 
sance  architecture.  Little,  if  any,  of  the  influence  of  the 
French  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts  was  apparent  in  the 
works  of  McKim,  Mead  &  White,  even  in  the  early  days 
of  the  firm.  Their  mission  was,  rather,  to  carry  on 
the  torch  from  the  hands  of  Bramante,  Peruzzi,  Brunel- 
leschi,  and  the  other  old  Italian  masters. 

The  Morgan  library  affords  a  unique  example  for  a 
study  of  an  historic  style  in  a  pure  adaptation.  The 
entrance,  formed  by  an  open  loggia,  is  characteristically 
Italian.  The  composition  of  central  arch  and  tall  side- 
spaces,  called  a  "Palladian"  composition  (whether  of 
window,  door  or  opening)  is  faultlessly  proportioned. 
The  name  is  derived  from  Palladio,  the  great  Italian 
Eenaissance  architect  who  made  this  his  favourite  mo- 
tif. The  niches,  both  on  the  f  agade  and  within  the  loggia, 
are  no  less  characteristic  of  the  style,  and  the  balusters 
are  of  a  perfect  Italian  form.  Few  buildings  in  this 
country  combine  such  harmonious  general  proportions 
with  such  exquisite  detail  in  ornament  and  mouldings. 
To  study  the  Morgan  library  thoroughly,  and  to  come 
to  intelligently  appreciate  its  infinite  architectural 
niceties,  is  to  discover  the  real  essence  of  Italian  archi- 
tecture at  its  best,  and  as  directly  as  it  is  possible  to  do 
without  visiting  Italy.  The  two  illustrations,  showing 
the  street  elevation  of  the  building  and  a  detail  of  the 
loggia,  will  repay  a  careful  study,  and  serve  to  impress 


160  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

upon  anyone  a  more  vital  and  lasting  comprehension 
of  the  architecture  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  than  any 
quantity  of  words. 

Another  member  of  the  firm  of  McKim,  Mead  & 
White — Charles  Follen  McKim — was  as  great  a  master 
of  large  architectural  conceptions  as  Stanford  White 
was  a  master  of  detail.  To  his  ability  the  country 
owes  the  noble  conception  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
Terminal  in  New  York  City — one  of  the  most  splendid 
architectural  monuments  of  America,  or  of  the  world. 
Patterned,  in  a  general  way,  after  the  Roman  Baths  of 
Caracalla,  designed  in  the  vein  of  the  Italian  Renais- 
sance, vastly  magnified  and  wonderfully  engineered, 
this  great  railroad  terminal  must  stand  for  all  time  as 
an  illustration  of  the  immortal  power  of  architecture 
to  express  any  human  idea  of  magnitude  and  dignity. 
And  stylistically,  it  must  stand  as  an  illustration  that 
the  style  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  does  not  necessarily 
imply  or  enforce  a  technique  so  minute  and  so  exquisite 
as  the  rendering  of  the  Morgan  Library.  So  flexible 
is  the  style  that  a  master  may  apply  it  with  success  to 
a  jewel  casket  or  a  railroad  terminal.  To  catalogue 
the  architectural  attainments  of  the  firm  of  McKim, 
Mead  &  White  would  necessitate  much  space  and 
involve  much  special  study — suffice  it  to  say  that  no  one 
firm  has  exerted  so  profound  or  so  sweeping  an  in- 
fluence on  American  architecture,  or  held  so  high  the 
lamp  of  good  taste.  New  York  City,  especially,  is  the 
richer  by  their  actual  works,  and  the  country  at  large 
by  their  sincere  and  splendid  influence. 

The  style  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  is  peculiarly 
suited  to  city  architecture  by  reason  of  the  nicety  of  its 
proportions  and  that  quality  mentioned  before — its 
flexibility.  A  serene  dignity  may  be  expressed  in  such 


McKim,  Mead    A  White,  Architects 
A   NEW   YORK   CITY   SHOP   FRONT   OF  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  DERIVATION 

(Premises  of  The  Gorharn  Company') 


Mi-Kim,  Mead    &  White,  Architects 

AN   ADAPTATION   OF   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  ARCHITECTURE   IN   A   LARGE 

PUBLIC  BUILDING 

The  church  in  the  background  is  in  a  style  which  might  be  called  "Florentine  Gothic" 
(The  Public  Library,  Boston,  Massachusetts) 


Hill  &  Stout,  Architects 

AN  ITALIAN  DERIVATION  IN  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE 

A  loggia  of  Italian  Renaissance  design,  characteristically  embellished  with  fresco  decorations 


Harry  Allan  Jacobs,  Architect 

ITALIAN  DERIVATION  IN  A  NEW  YORK  CITY  SHOP  FRONT 

The  arcaded  loggia  above  the  street  level  is  an  architectural  feature 
essentially  of  the  Italian  Renaissance 


Currere  &  Hastings,  Architects 

A  DETAIL  OF  SGRAFFITO  DECORATION  FROM  THE  FACADE  OF  A  MODERN 

AMERICAN  SHOP  FRONT 

This  method  of  surface  decoration  was  an  invention  and  attainment  of  the  craftsmen- 
architects  of  the  Italian  Renaissance 


Harry  Allan  Jacobs,  Architect  Carrere  &  Hastinps  Architects 

TWO  NEW  YORK  CITY  SHOP  FRONTS  OF  ITALIAN  DERIVATION 
The  first,  though  proclaimed  "Italian"  by  the  triple-arched  loggia,  shows  Eighteenth 
Century  French  feeling  in  the  "  musical  attribute"  panels  at  the  fifth  story.   The  second, 
with  facade  in  sgraffito  decoration,  is  more  nearly  in  tune  with  the  work  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance 


LATIN  DERIVATIONS  161 

New  York  buildings  as  the  University  or  the  Century 
Clubs,  or  the  shops  of  Tiffany  and  Gorham.  A  more 
ornate  dignity  may  appear  in  such  a  building  as  the 
bank  building,  originally  for  the  Knickerbocker  Trust 
Company  on  Fifth  Avenue,  or  a  degree  of  humanism 
almost  approaching  frivolity  may  appear  in  such  a 
cheerful  fagade  as  the  sgraffito  shop  front  shown  in  one 
of  the  illustrations.  Another  shop,  of  Italian  deriva- 
tion in  design,  rears  a  delicate  fa§ade  of  white  marble, 
effectively  lightened  by  an  open,  triple-arched  loggia, 
and  similar  treatments  form  a  happy  solution  for  the 
narrow-lot  problem  of  city  house  design. 

It  must  be  apparent,  from  the  foregoing  remarks, 
and  from  a  study  not  only  of  the  buildings  illustrated  in 
this  chapter,  but  of  the  buildings  with  which  we  are  all 
familiar,  that  the  style  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  is 
one  peculiarly  adaptable  to  the  successful  solution  of  a 
variety  of  architectural  problems — problems  not  only 
of  site  or  type  of  building,  but  problems  involving  the 
proper  expression  of  such  unarchitectural  qualities  as 
dignity  and  distinction.  It  would  be  difficult  to  contrive 
a  short  arcade  of  greater  combined  dignity  and  richness 
than  the  triple  arched  street  front  of  the  Gorham  shop, 
in  New  York  City,  shown  in  one  of  the  illustrations.  In 
the  style  of  the  Italian  Renaissance,  the  media  for  this 
kind  of  expression  are  inexhaustible,  and  a  study  of 
their  range  and  infinite  possibilities  would  form  an 
exhaustive  architectural  study  in  itself. 

In  the  consideration  of  Italian  derivations  in  the 
form  of  the  country  villa,  we  are  confronted  by  some- 
what of  an  architectural  paradox,  in  that  we  have 
adapted,  and  even  welcomed,  a  type  of  country  house 
intended  to  form  the  setting  for  American  country  life, 
when  the  original,  the  villa  of  the  Italian  noble  of  the 


162    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

Renaissance,  formed  the  setting  for  a  very  different 
kind  of  country  life.  It  has  been  a  case  in  which  archi- 
tectural form,  alone,  has  been  borrowed,  and  this,  with 
certain  added  elements  of  romance  (more  literary  than 
architectural)  has  been  developed,  with  really  extra- 
ordinary success,  into  a  modern  American  dwelling. 
The  American  adaptation  of  the  Italian  villa  satisfies 
us  not  because  its  prototype  was  in  any  way  expressive 
of  American  tastes  or  American  modes  of  life,  either 
as  a  reflection  or  a  criterion,  but  rather  because  it  is  a 
beautiful  thing  to  look  at — beautiful  with  the  same 
classic  purity  as  the  Parthenon,  though  far  more  linked 
with  the  human  life  of  to-day.  The  Venus  of  Milo 
appeals  to  us  not  because  it  typifies  the  woman  of 
to-day,  but  because  it  deifies  woman  of  all  time,  typify- 
ing woman,  the  goddess,  as  an  idea  rather  than  a  per- 
sonality. The  appeal  is  literary,  romantic  and  aesthetic. 
Queen  Elizabeth  appeals  to  us  as  an  actual  woman, 
just  as  the  English  country  house  appeals  to  us  as 
an  actual  house.  The  Italian  villa  is  more  in  the  realm 
of  the  ideal — and  it  has  been  the  task  of  the  modern 
architect  to  make  it  real  and  habitable,  which  he  has 
done  with  conspicuous  success. 

Let  us  look  back  at  some  of  the  great  and  famous 
villas  of  Renaissance  Italy,  and  at  the  country  life  for 
which  they  formed  the  setting,  for  in  this  way  we  may 
best  come  to  see  clearly  wherein  the  Italian  villa  par- 
takes, in  our  American  adaptation,  of  qualities  both 
appropriate  and  alien. 

In  one  respect  the  Italian  villa  of  the  Renaissance 
was  a  logical  and  real  expression  of  a  purpose  which 
most  modern  country  houses  hold  in  common  with  it — it 
was  a  retreat.  Wearied  by  the  endless  intrigues  and 
the  nervous  strain  of  city  life  in  the  great  palazzi  of 


LATIN  DERIVATIONS  163 

Florence  or  Rome,  the  nobles,  with  their  families  and 
friends  and  servants,  found  it  most  enjoyable  to  repair 
to  the  cool  loggias,  the  quiet  terraces,  and  wonderful 
gardens  of  their  villas,  to  rest  and  read  poetry.  The 
American  family  of  to-day,  no  less  wearied  by  endless 
social  activities  and  business  cares,  must  find  the  same 
rest  and  the  same  pleasure  in  an  environment  created 
to  resemble  the  country  retreat  of  the  old  Italian  nobles. 

The  anachronism  exists  in  the  difference  between 
the  effete  and  indolent  idea  of  country  life  which  charac- 
terised the  Renaissance  Italian  noble,  and  the  whole- 
some and  vigorous  idea  of  country  life  which  should 
characterise  the  modern  American  country  gentleman. 
The  Italian  entertained  with  formal  ceremony,  his 
power  was  almost  equal  to  that  of  a  feudal  lord.  He 
engaged  in  no  active  sports  or  energetic  outdoor  life, 
and  too  often  brought  with  him  the  spies  and  poisoners 
and  parasitic  friends  whom  he  should  have  left  behind 
him  in  the  city.  Villa  life  in  Renaissance  Italy  was 
not,  by  all  we  have  heard,  very  wholesome,  or  in  any 
way  a  desirable  sort  of  thing  on  which  to  pattern  our 
own  country  life  of  to-day.  Our  architects  took  the 
stage  settings,  and,  modifying  them  to  some  extent, 
let  us  devise  and  enact  new  dramas  in  place  of  the  old. 

This,  perhaps,  brings  the  most  clear  understanding 
of  the  propriety  of  the  American  villa  of  Italian  deriva- 
tion— it  is  a  stage  setting,  and  one  in  which  we  have 
come  to  feel  at  home  because  of  its  inherent  beauty  and 
charm,  and  in  spite  of  its  associations  of  a  life  and  a 
period  entirely  different  from  our  own.  Renaissance 
depravity,  mellowed  by  time,  is  further  cloaked  by  the 
kindly  mantle  of  "romance,"  so  that  we  find  much  his- 
toric association  of  real  charm,  where  old,  forgotten 
family  histories  could  tell  (if  we  lifted  the  mantle  of 


164     THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

romance)  of  much  sordid  intrigue,  blighted  hope  and 
a  kind  of  life  entirely  different  either  from  what  most 
of  us  suppose,  or  from  what  we  conceive  to  be  the 
modern  American  ideal. 

Of  all  American  architects  who  have  essayed  the 
Italian  villa,  adapted,  the  master  is  Charles  A.  Platt, 
who  has  combined  with  a  rare  degree  of  architectural 
skill  and  surety  an  equally  rare  degree  of  imagination, 
sympathy  and  real  artistic  feeling.  The  result  of  these 
abilities  has  been  apparent  in  his  work.  He  has  re- 
tained the  charm,  the  romance,  and  the  peculiar  archi- 
tectural chastity  of  the  Renaissance  Italian  villa,  and 
has  given  his  rendering,  at  the  same  time,  and  in  a  man- 
ner at  once  subtle  and  forceful,  something  of  a  modern 
vigour  of  expression  and  a  modern  note  of  appro- 
priateness. Other  American  architects  have  attained 
conspicuous  success  in  the  designing  of  Italian  villa 
derivations,  but  Mr.  Platt  is  the  accredited  master,  and 
his  works  will  rank  always  as  monuments  of  remark- 
able architectural  sincerity  in  intelligent  adaptation. 

It  should  be  obvious  that  the  Italian  villa,  from  its 
nature,  is  inappropriate  in  a  cold  northern  climate,  yet, 
though  the  greater  part  of  the  United  States  is,  during 
several  months  of  the  year,  a  country  of  most  unpleas- 
ant climate,  the  villa  of  Italian  type  is  built  as  a  retreat 
for  the  warm  months,  and  as  such,  it  comes  well  within 
the  pale  of  suitability.  Southern  California  and  the 
southern  states  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  more  obvious 
habitat  of  houses  of  the  Italian  villa  type,  as  well  as 
of  the  Spanish  type. 

The  superficial  characteristics  of  the  Italian  villa 
are  readily  recognisable,  and  reasonably  familiar :  low- 
pitched  roof  of  corrugated  tile,  stucco  walls,  occasional 
iron  balconies,  arcaded  loggias,  garden  terraces,  and 


LATIN  DERIVATIONS  165 

often  a  patio,  which  is  the  salient  feature,  also,  of  the 
Spanish  house. 

The  Italian  garden  is  inseparable  from  the  house, 
and,  being  of  a  distinctly  architectural  nature,  is  closely 
tied  to  it  both  in  plan  and  in  general  character.  The 
picturesque  possibilities  of  the  Italian  garden  cannot 
be  overstated  or  unduly  admired,  and  those  of  the  great 
villas  of  the  Eenaissance  have  formed,  and  will  always 
form,  the  greater  part  of  our  inspiration  in  garden 
design.  We  have  seen  what  a  deep  and  lasting  impres- 
sion the  garden  art  of  Italy  made  upon  England,  where 
elaborate  and  beautiful  schemes  were  laid  out  thor- 
oughly and  frankly  in  the  Italian  manner,  about  Jaco- 
bean and  Georgian  country  houses. 

The  Italian  type  of  garden,  though  it  is  what  is 
known  as  a  "formal  garden,"  possesses  so  many  ele- 
ments of  the  picturesque  that  its  formality  is  its  least 
conspicuous  characteristic.  The  greatest  skill  was 
shown  in  the  disposition  of  terraces,  pools,  fountains, 
grottos,  garden  statuary,  and  pavilions,  as  well  as 
an  inimitable  artistry  in  the  design  of  all  these  garden 
embellishments. 

It  is  conceivable  that  many  people  have  decided  upon 
the  Italian  villa  type  as  their  building  inspiration 
because  they  are  completely  fascinated  by  the  Italian 
type  of  garden  which  must  form  a  part  of  the  plan. 

The  Italian  garden  owes  its  permanent  value  and 
its  real  significance  to  the  fact  that  it  came  as  an  intelli- 
gent solution  of  the  problem  which  exists  in  any  attempt 
to  blend  architecture  with  nature.  The  Italian  garden 
is  the  connecting  link,  its  subtly  devised  planting  bind- 
ing it  to  the  surrounding  hillsides  or  groves,  its  ter- 
races, walks  and  detached  casinos  and  pavilions  bind- 
ing it  to  the  villa.  A  garden  entirely  architectural 


166    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

merely  spreads  the  architecture  of  the  house  or  villa 
outward  to  some  inevitably  sharp  line  of  demarcation 
where  the  planting  of  nature  begins.  'A  garden  entirely 
informal  leads  natural  planting  and  natural  contours 
directly  up  to  an  equally  sharp  line  of  demarcation  in 
the  architecture  of  the  house. 

Returning  to  more  general  consideration  of  Renais- 
sance Italian  derivations,  in  American  architecture,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  these  play  a  more  important 
part  than  any  other  European  style,  excepting  always 
the  Classic  bases  of  architectural  design,  from  which, 
indeed,  the  architecture  of  the  Renaissance  itself  was 
wholly  derived.  The  Greeks  gave  to  architecture  its 
eternal  fundamentals  of  the  orders,  the  mouldings,  the 
entablatures  and  the  general  proportions  which  were 
subsequently  further  developed  by  the  Romans,  and 
humanised  and  embellished  by  the  Renaissance  Italians, 
to  be  revived  once  more  in  our  own  age  as  an  architec- 
tural language  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  best  expression 
of  a  wide  range  of  architectural  problems. 

We  have  drawn  certain  comparisons  between  the 
spirit  of  "country  life"  as  conceived  by  the  Renais- 
sance Italian  villa  owner,  and  the  modern  American 
gentleman.  To  understand  the  artificial  status  of  the 
adapted  French  chateau,  similar  comparisons  are 
necessary. 

French  country  life,  notably  in  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury, was  a  very  formal  affair,  consisting,  indeed,  of 
urban  social  entertainments  and  life  being  merely 
transplanted  from  city  to  country.  Hunting  was  more 
of  a  ceremony  than  a  sport.  It  is  a  significant  fact, 
in  this  connection,  to  remind  ourselves  that  the  French 
had  not  even  a  word  in  their  language  to  convey  the 
idea,  and  borrowed,  with  a  prefixed  definite  article 


Churles  A.  Platt,  Architect 

AN  ITALIAN  VILLA  DERIVATION  IN  AN  AMERICAN  COUNTRY  HOUSE 
Looking  from  the  loggia  and  across  the  terrace  of  an  American  country  house  which  is  in 
perfect  character  with  its  Italian  prototype.      (The  iron  tie-rods,  relieving  the  thrust  of 
the  urches,  illustrate  a  frequent  expedient  of  Italian  Renaissance  architecture) 


LATIN  DERIVATIONS  167 

"le  sport,"  conscientiously  endeavouring  to  emulate 
their  more  outdoor-loving  English  neighbours  across 
the  channel. 

Versailles  and  the  several  charming  "  play-houses  " 
of  Marie  Antoinette  are  admirably  illustrative  of  the 
spirit  of  French  country  life.  To  the  gardens  and  the 
" make-believe"  farm  buildings  of  Little  Trianon, 
repaired  the  charming  Marie  and  her  coterie  of  friends 
to  play  at  being  milkmaids  and  shepherdesses,  attired 
in  "appropriate"  costumes  of  silks  and  satins.  Here 
was  the  keynote  of  that  charming  and  naive  artificiality 
which  is  architecturally  expressed  in  the  country  houses 
of  the  French  nobility. 

Some  of  the  smaller  chateaux  should  offer  con- 
siderable suggestion  to  the  American  architect  who  is 
engaged  in  designing  a  semi-formal  country  house,  and 
the  chateau  style  may  be  regarded  as  reasonably 
appropriate  for  a  magnificent  house  at  such  a  fashion- 
able place  as  Newport,  where  elaborate  and  formal 
entertainments  are  in  order,  and  where  the  avowed 
intention  is  to  recall  the  splendour,  the  lavishness,  the 
luxury,  and  the  grand  manner  of  the  court  of 
Louis  XVI. 

The  case  is  again  a  case  of  theatrical  scenery,  con- 
trived with  due  consideration  for  the  kind  of  life  to  be 
enacted  by  the  owners.  A  large  American  country 
house  of  the  chateau  type  may  be  an  architectural 
expression  absolutely  appropriate  or  absolutely  inap- 
propriate— according  entirely  to  the  kind  of  life  it  is 
intended  to  set  off.  "'Biltmore,"  the  Vanderbilt  coun- 
try place  in  North  Carolina,  and  "Ochre  Court,"  or 
the  house  of  J.  Nicholas  Brown,  at  Newport,  are  excel- 
lent examples  of  American  adaptations  of  the  French 
chateau  as  commendable  for  their  architectural  man- 


168    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

ner  as  for  their  suitability  to  the  kind  of  "  country 
life"  enjoyed  by  their  owners. 

Other  American  families  of  social  prominence  have 
elected  to  have  their  "country  houses"  done  in  the 
manner  of  Louis  XVI,  recalling  the  Trianons  at  Ver- 
sailles— such  well-known  Newport  houses,  for  example, 
as  "the  Marble  Palace"  and  "Rosecliff." 

A  French  style  once  very  popular  but  now  by  no 
means  in  favor,  was  the  style  of  Francis  First,  tran- 
sitional from  Gothic  to  Renaissance.  This,  in  fact,  is 
the  original  chateau  style,  with  round  towers,  capped 
by  conical  roofs,  almost  like  steeples — a  style  undenia- 
bly picturesque,  yet  equally  undeniably  inappropriate 
as  an  architectural  medium  of  expression  for  American 
tastes  or  American  life. 

As  the  influence  of  the  Eenaissance  style  supplanted 
the  Gothic,  and  was  in  turn  supplanted  by  the  Classic, 
the  French  chateau  became  increasingly  more  re- 
strained, though  no  less  artificial.  Chateau  architec- 
ture has  a  certain  dignity,  a  certain  impressive  air  of 
nobility  and  of  '  *  smartness ' '  which  has  its  appropriate 
applications  and  its  own  merits.  The  style,  however, 
can  never  be  expected  to  become  a  part  of  American 
architecture. 

Of  French  influences  in  city  and  public  buildings 
much  was  said  in  the  fourth  chapter,  outlining  the 
trend  of  French  design  from  the  time  of  Louis  XIV, 
through  the  classic  revival  of  Louis  XVI,  and  the 
present  manifestations  of  Beaux  Arts  teachings. 

It  will  be  apparent  from  a  study  of  that  portion  of 
the  text,  with  its  illustrations,  that  French  city  archi- 
tecture plays  a  conspicuous  and  agreeable  part  in  the 
design  of  many  of  our  city  buildings.  All  French 
styles  from  that  of  Louis  XIV  through  the  Beaux  Arts, 


Albro  &  LiMd,l,crK,  ArchiU,-ts  l'l,,,toSrn,.h  by  Julian  Burkl, 

AN  ITALIAN  DERIVATION  IN  AN  AMERICAN  COUNTRY  HOUSE 
Skilful  architects  have  adapted  Italian  architecture  and  at  the  same  time  have  retained 

its  charm 


Albro  &  Lindeberg,  Architects 

AN  ITALIAN  VILLA  DERIVATION  IN  AN  AMERICAN  COUNTRY  HOUSE 

The  low  pitch  of  the  roof,  the  treatment  of  the  chimneys,  and  of  the  hooded  doorway, 

proclaim  the  Italian  origin  of  this  dwelling 


Albert  Kelsey  &  Paul  P.  Crt-t,  Architects 

An  effective   and   successful  introduction  of  the  Spanish  patio,  or  garden  courtyard,  with 

a  fountain,  in  an  American  monumental  building 

(The  Pan-American  Union,  Washington,  D.  C.) 


LATIN  DERIVATIONS  169 

or  Modern  French  style,  have  been  extensively  utilised 
in  the  design  of  many  of  the  largest  American  hotels, 
as  will  be  seen  in  the  ninth  chapter,  and  the  style  of 
Louis  XVI  has  furnished  the  inspiration  for  many 
chaste  and  suitable  city  houses  and  shop  fronts. 

The  frivolity  of  the  more  extreme  type  of  French 
architecture  is  excellently  suited  to  the  design  of 
theatres  and  restaurants,  where  it  is  desired  to  offer  a 
festive  environment  to  the  patrons,  and  to  effect  a 
brilliant  architectural  background  for  gay  gatherings. 
The  inevitable  reaction  from  too  much  frivolous  hotel 
architecture  will  be  pointed  out  in  the  ninth  chapter. 

The  debt  of  American  architecture  to  the  archi- 
tecture of  France  is  stated  in  the  paragraphs  devoted 
to  the  great  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts  in  the  fourth  chap- 
ter, and  the  foregoing  comments  are  designed  to  point 
out  the  necessarily  artificial  position  of  French 
architecture  as  related  to  the  American  country  house. 

It  was  remarked  above  that  the  architecture  of 
America  has  availed  itself  but  little  of  Spanish  deriva- 
tions. It  is  true  that  Renaissance  Spain  produced  no 
such  master-architects  as  Italy,  yet  the  native  genius 
of  the  race,  its  art  strangely  enriched  by  the  legacy  of 
the  Moors,  evolved  many  architectural  forms  well 
worthy  of  adaptation  and  further  development  in  this 
country. 

Spanish  architecture  possesses  certain  distinctive 
features,  in  both  plan  and  detail.  In  plan,  whether 
of  residence  or  public  building,  the  patio,  or  open  inner 
courtyard,  is  a  marked  characteristic.  In  detail  the 
use  of  wrought  iron  work  for  balconies,  railings  and 
grilles  is  equally  characteristic.  There  is,  too,  the  low- 
pitched  tile  roof,  as  found  in  Italy,  the  same  preva- 


170  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

lence  of  stucco  wall  sufaces,  but  no  such  frequent  use 
of  loggias  and  terraces. 

Most  Spanish  houses,  as  well  as  those  in  the  old 
Spanish  colonies,  whether  in  town  or  country,  were 
built  somewhat  after  the  manner  of  private  fortresses, 
as  though  no  man  trusted  his  fellow,  or  felt  secure  in 
the  community  in  which  he  dwelt.  The  outer  walls 
were  heavy  and  forbidding,  with  but  few  windows,  and 
these  small,  high  and  protected  by  iron  grilles.  The 
street  door  was  a  massive,  iron-studded  affair,  with 
huge  bolts  and  ponderous  locks — a  barrier  against  any- 
thing but  actual  siege.  Whatever  gentler  aspect  of 
domestic  architecture  existed  was  lavished  on  the  patio 
or  inner  court,  which  was  often  gay  with  flowers,  and 
cooled  by  a  fountain  in  the  centre.  Into  galleries 
around  the  patio  opened  the  chambers  of  the  house, 
those  of  the  master  usually  occupying  the  first  floor 
above  the  ground,  while  the  servants  dwelt  below, 
and  performed  the  domestic  duties  of  the  household 
in  the  court  itself. 

Many  Spanish  patios  are  beautiful  with  flowers  and 
fountains,  and  quaintly  devised  galleries  and  arcades, 
but  by  far  the  greater  number  resemble  a  sort  of 
indoor  barnyard,  where  cattle,  horses  and  poultry  were 
kept  secure  within  the  main  outer  door  over  night. 
One  must  suppose  that  Spain,  at  the  time  when  this 
characteristic  type  was  evolved,  was  a  country  of 
thieves  and  brigands.  The  tradition  of  the  protected 
patio,  with  plainly  apparent  need,  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
earlier  haciendas  and  ranch  houses  of  the  Southwest 
United  States  and  of  South  America.  In  the  event  of 
attack  by  Indians  or  brigands,  outbuildings  could  read- 
ily be  burned,  live-stock  taken  and  great  loss  sustained, 
whereas  the  inner  court  plan  made  it  possible  for  the 


\Viilis  1'olk, 

A  SPANISH  RENAISSANCE  DERIVATION 
Windows  at  the  second  story  of  a  modern  Californian  residence 


LATIN    DERIVATIONS    BLENDING    MOTIFS,    SPANISH    AND 

ITALIAN 

Coloured  terra-cotta  details  of  a  Chicago  office  building,  designed  in  a  rich 
commingling  of  the  styles  of  both  Spanish  and  Italian  Renaissance 


LATIN  DERIVATIONS  171 

unprotected  householder  in  outlying  districts,  to  offer 
only  four  forbidding  walls  and  a  stout  door  to  the 
marauder. 

To-day,  however,  when  no  need  exists  for  such  pro- 
tection of  property,  the  patio  offers  an  architectural 
opportunity  of  peculiar  charm,  especially  in  the  private 
residence.  This  opportunity  is  being  yearly  recog- 
nised with  greater  zest  by  the  architects  of  our  Pacific 
coast,  as  well  as  many  in  the  South  and  East.  In  a 
country  dwelling  situated  in  the  prevailing  warm 
climates  of  the  Southern  Pacific  coast,  or  the  states 
of  the  far  South,  the  patio  may  well  be  made  a  spot  of 
engaging  beauty  and  of  real  significance  in  the  daily 
lives  of  the  occupants.  The  shadows  cast  by  the  sur- 
rounding walls  will  render  the  patio  cool  at  most  hours 
of  the  day,  and  its  restricted  area  will  make  possible 
the  contrivance  of  a  very  intimate  kind  of  gardening, 
as  well  as  the  selection  of  many  attractive  and  interest- 
ing types  of  informal  and  semi-outdoor  furniture. 

In  public  buildings  the  patio  usually  takes  the 
form  of  a  courtyard,  serving,  in  the  plan  of  the  build- 
ing, to  afford  lighting  to  the  inner  rooms.  The  archi- 
tectural possibilities  of  the  patio,  however,  are  often 
lost  sight  of  in  its  purely  utilitarian  function  as  a  light- 
shaft,  which  is  unfortunate  by  reason  of  the  numerous 
attractive  courtyard  treatments  which  may  be  effected. 

The  patio  of  the  Boston  Public  Library  is  really  an 
Italian  courtyard,  flanked  by  cloister-like  loggias,  and 
with  a  pool  in  the  centre  of  a  grass  plot.  A  truly 
Spanish,  or  Spanish-American,  patio  is  one  of  the 
most  conspicuously  attractive  and  appropriate  features 
of  the  Pan-American  Union  'Building  in-  Washington, 
D.  C.  Here  the  architects  devised  an  open  space,  rich 
with  tropical  verdure,  flanked  by  open  stairways  and 


172     THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

balconies,  and  with  a  great  Aztec  fountain  playing  in 
the  centre  of  a  tiled  floor,  wherein  appear  strange  and 
interesting  figures  of  ancient  South  American  mythol- 
ogy. The  patio,  however,  has  been  strangely  neglected 
in  American  architecture,  and  its  Italian  counterpart, 
the  courtyard  has  fared  little  better,  although  our 
eyes  have  been  turned  more  to  Italy  for  architectural 
inspiration  than  to  Spain. 

Spanish  architecture,  as  well  as  that  of  Italy,  is 
peculiarly  adaptable  to  construction  with  hollow  tile 
and  stucco,  and  with  the  increasing  popularity  of  these 
materials  the  spread  of  both  these  Latin  derivations 
has  widened. 

The  Italian  villa  or  the  Spanish  casa  can  never 
occupy  a  place  in  our  architectural  thought  entirely 
comparable  with  the  English  country  house,  because, 
as  a  race,  we  are  not  of  Latin  extraction,  but  Anglo- 
Saxon.  Our  esteem  for  these  types,  as  well  as  for  the 
French  chateau,  will  be  based  very  largely  upon  liter- 
ary association. and  upon  superficial  aesthetic  attraction 
— they  will  be  esteemed  and  accepted  because  they 
bring  foreign  elements  into  our  life — not  because  they 
are,  ancestrally,  a  part  of  our  life. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
NATIVE  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE 

AMERICAN  TYPES  CHARACTERISTIC  OF  NEW  ENGLAND,  THE 
MIDDLE  ATLANTIC  STATES,  AND  THE  SOUTH.  CREOLE 
AND  SPANISH  COLONIAL  ARCHITECTURE.  "SECESSION- 
IST "  WORK  IN  MIDDLE  WEST,  THE  "  CRAFTSMAN  IDEA " 
AND  SOME  COMMENTS  ON  THE  BUNGALOW 

DESPITE  the  continued  pronouncement  of  writers 
and  critics  and  architects  who  bewail  the  fact 
that  there  is  no  "national  style,"  no  truly  "  American" 
architecture,  the  fact  remains  that  there  exist  not  one 
type,  but  several  types  peculiar  to  this  country.  And 
these  types,  considered  as  divided  by  what  naturalists 
would  call  their  "habitat,"  should  afford  a  rich  source 
of  inspiration  to  our  architects  throughout  the  country. 

It  is  important  at  the  outset  to  correct  the  loose  and 
often  misleading  term  "Colonial,"  and  to  divide  early 
American  buildings  a  little  more  accurately,  with  some 
proper  chronological  distinction.  This  division  may 
be  made  to  a  great  extent  irrespective  of  locality,  and 
a  consideration  of  the  types  of  native  American  archi- 
tecture characteristic  of  North,  South,  East  and  West 
may  then  be  better  understood. 

It  is  a  common  matter  to  hear  any  American  build- 
ing, of  date  prior  to  the  Civil  War,  designated 
"Colonial,"  which  would  be  as  absurd  as  it  is  inaccu- 
rate, if  people  were  to  give  the  question  even  a 
moment's  thought. 

The  evolution  of  native  American  architecture, 
from  its  necessarily  primitive  beginnings,  through  its 
more  highly  developed  manifestations,  is  a  consecutive 
one,  and  would  afford  a  peculiarly  interesting  oppor- 
tunity to  study  the  history  of  the  American  people — if 

173 


174      THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

a  study  so  detailed  could  properly  be  included  in  a 
review  so  broad  and  extensive  as  the  present  book, 
wherein  may  be  pointed  out  only  the  more  salient  and 
important  points. 

The  broad  distinction  between  ' '  Colonial  Architec- 
ture" and  "Georgian"  (or  "Georgian  Colonial") 
architecture  is  that  the  first  is  essentially  native  and 
necessarily  primitive,  while  the  second  is  essentially 
imported  and,  by  reason  of  greater  national  pros- 
perity and  development,  far  more  sophisticated  and 
elaborate. 

Early  Colonial  architecture  reflected  very  accu- 
rately the  various  home-country  influences  of  the  set- 
tlers— English,  Dutch,  Swedish,  Welsh,  French,  or 
German — who  erected  buildings  in  different  parts  of  the 
original  thirteen  colonies,  while  Georgian  Colonial 
architecture  tended  toward  effecting  a  certain  uni- 
formity, at  least  in  detail,  and  toward  effecting,  as  well, 
great  modifications  of  the  previously  distinctive  archi- 
tectural modes  of  the  varied  nationalities. 

The  architecture  of  Post-Colonial  America,  and  of 
the  Classic  Revival  is  distinct  from  earlier  styles,  as 
will  be  seen  by  a  brief  survey  of  Early  and  Georgian 
Colonial  architecture. 

The  clearest  and  most  useful  manner  in  which  to 
study  this  chapter  of  architecture  would  seem  to  be 
the  study  by  general  locality,  the  divisions  being  both 
architectural  and  geographical.  We  have  to  consider, 
then,  the  architectural  types  prevalent  in  the  Early 
and  Georgian  Colonial  periods  in  New  England,  in 
the  settlements  of  New  York  and  adjacent  portions 
of  New  Jersey,  in  Pennsylvania,  Delaware  and  the 
southwest  portion  of  New  Jersey,  and  in  the  Southern 
States. 


THE   NEW  ENGLAND  GAMBREL-ROOFED  TYPE 
A  typical  early  American  Colonial  house  at  Hadlyme,  Connecticut 


THE   DUTCH   COLONIAL   GAMBREL-ROOFED   TYPE 

A   typical   Dutch   Colonial   house,   the   Terhune  homestead,   at    Hackensack,   New  Jersey 
(The  dormer  windows  in  the  roof  are  a  later  addition) 


NATIVE  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE          175 

The  architecture  of  the  French  and  Spanish  Creoles 
in  Louisiana,  and  of  the  early  Spanish  missionaries  in 
the  Southwest  and  on  the  Pacific  Coast — these  are 
varieties  as  separate  from  the  architecture  of  the  thir- 
teen colonies  as  they  are  interesting  in  themselves,  and 
will  be  taken  up  in  due  course. 

In  New  England  the  rigorous  climate,  as  well  as 
the  yearly  demolition  which  goes  inevitably  in  the  wake 
of  "progress, ' '  have  left  but  few  examples  of  the  homes 
of  the  earliest  colonists,  and  for  this  reason  we  are 
too  likely  to  picture  the  New  England  type  of  Colonial 
house  as  the  type  which  was  evolved  in  Georgian  Colo- 
nial times,  and  of  which  a  wealth  of  examples  may  be 
seen  to-day. 

The  earliest  New  England  houses  were  strange  and 
interesting  off-shoots  of  contemporary  houses  in  Eng- 
land, modified,  it  is  true,  by  local  necessities  and 
limitations. 

One  of  their  most  conspicuous  characteristics  was 
sturdy  construction.  The  corner  posts  of  the  frame 
were  often  twelve  and  fourteen  inches  square,  heavily 
braced,  and  held  together  with  tenons  and  dowels,  or 
wooden  pegs.  It  has  been  discovered  that  many  of 
these  very  early  New  England  houses  were  actually  of 
English  half-timber  construction,  concealed  behind  a 
purely  superficial  mask  of  clapboards.  The  heavy 
frames  were  filled  in  with  stone  and  mortar — sometimes 
with  brick,  the  interior  surfaces  finished  with  rough, 
hand-made  laths  and  plaster,  the  exterior  sheathed 
with  clapboards. 

An  interesting  feature  of  direct  English  tradition 
was  the  overhang  of  the  second  story,  as  well  as  the 
small  diamond-paned  casement  windows  which  are  to 
be  seen  in  the  earliest  examples.  New  England  houses 


176  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

with  gambrel  roofs  nearly  all  belong  to  the  earlier 
period  of  New  England  Colonial  architecture. 

As  the  country  grew  more  prosperous,  the  architec- 
ture of  the  colonists  developed  correspondingly.  More 
ships  plied  the  perilous  route  between  the  Old  and  the 
New  World,  and  brought  with  them  an  ever-increasing 
number  of  skilled  artisans,  trained  in  the  more  sophisti- 
cated forms  which  characterised  the  architecture  of 
Georgian  England. 

The  New  England  houses  were  still  severe  and 
Puritanical  in  their  exterior  aspect,  save  for  the  en- 
trance which  became  more  and  more  elaborate.  Classic 
columns  or  pilasters  flanked  the  door,  supporting  a 
curved  or  pointed  pediment,  or  a  delicately  moulded 
entablature.  Beneath  the  pediment  there  was  often  a 
graceful  fan-light,  with  wooden  or  leaded  divisions. 
The  usual  exterior  treatment  was  a  complete  sheathing 
of  white-painted  clapboards,  shutters  painted  green 
and  the  whole  four-square  house  roofed  with  a  low- 
pitched  shingle  roof.  There  were  other  types,  of 
course,  the  most  common  being  the  barn-roofed  type, 
with  plain  gable-end  and  the  utmost  simplicity  marking 
the  whole  exterior.  The  more  pretentious  of  the  larger 
New  England  houses  were  often  embellished  with  imi- 
tation " quoins,"  or  corner  stones,  fashioned  in  wood 
and  intended  to  distinguish  the  house  of  some  prosper- 
ous merchant  prince  from  those  of  more  humble 
neighbours. 

An  interesting  peculiarity  of  the  New  England 
house  is  the  oft-met-with  disparity  between  exterior 
and  interior — a  house  which  would  appear,  from  the 
road,  to  be  a  farmstead  of  the  most  humble  kind  may 
disclose  within  the  most  rich  and  intricate  carved  wood- 
work and  panelling. 


NATIVE  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE          177 

The  writer  is  familiar,  in  detail,  with  the  old  Robin- 
son house  in  the  Narragansett  portion  of  Rhode  Island, 
as  well  as  other  very  early  New  England  houses  in  that 
vicinity.  The  Robinson  house  presents  an  exterior  of 
the  utmost  simplicity,  and  were  its  interior  beauties  not 
locally  famous,  the  architectural  explorer  would  pass 
by  without  suspicion  of  the  beautiful  panelled  rooms, 
carved  pilasters,  Dutch-tiled  fire-places  and  twist- 
carved  balusters  within.  Even  the  entrance  of  this 
once  famous  old  mansion  is  simple  to  the  verge  of  actual 
poverty  in  its  appearance. 

New  England  houses  will  all  be  found  to  have  been 
designed  with  an  idea  of  conservation  of  heat,  which 
caused  the  chimneys  to  be  placed  always  in  the  centre 
of  the  house,  instead  of  on  an  outer  wall  as  was  usually 
the  case  in  houses  in  the  middle  and  southern  colonies. 

This  same  necessity  of  conservation  of  heat  made 
the  spacious  entrance  hall  of  the  Southern  houses  a 
feature  seldom  met  with  in  New  England.  Stairs  to 
the  upper  portions  of  the  house  were  most  often  steep, 
ladder-like  affairs,  built  in  between  two  walls,  especially 
in  the  humbler  homes.  The  larger  house,  with  many 
fireplaces,  often  made  more  conspicuous  architectural 
efforts  in  the  development  of  the  hall  and  the  hall 
stairway. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  the  early  American 
architecture  of  New  England  might  in  itself  be  made 
the  subject  of  a  lengthy  and  interesting  book,  it  is  appar- 
ent that  much  must  be  left  unsaid,  and  that  in  the 
present  chapter  it  is  possible  to  give  a  picture  with  only 
the  most  salient  high-lights. 

Late  Georgian  architecture  in  New  England  saw  two 
famous  early  American  architects :  Samuel  Mclntyre, 
of  Salem,  and  Charles  Bulfinch,  of  Boston;  the  former 
12 


178     THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

noted  for  his  influence  on  residential  architecture,  the 
second  for  his  achievements  in  the  design  of  public 
buildings. 

Mclntyre,  really  a  master-carpenter  and  builder, 
endowed  with  exceptional  taste  and  appreciation  of 
contemporary  Georgian  architecture,  infused  in  the 
architecture  of  his  time  in  New  England  a  strong  note 
of  the  Classicism  of  the  Adam  Brothers.  In  his  work, 
comprising,  notably,  the  old  gateways,  doorways  and 
mantelpieces  of  Salem,  Massachusetts,  are  to  be  seen 
the  urns,  the  medallions,  the  scalloped  fans  and  flat 
sunbursts  of  pure  Adam  inspiration,  treated,  all,  with 
a  little  more  virility,  a  little  more  weight  than  charac- 
terised their  Adam  prototypes.  It  is  the  New  England 
architecture  of  Samuel  Mclntyre  which  constitutes,  in 
the  minds  of  most  people,  their  conception  of 
" Colonial"  architecture.  In  reality,  Mclntyre 's  work 
was  entirely  Georgian,  a  transplanted  style,  locally 
associated  with  a  certain  part  of  New  England. 

The  work  of  Charles  Bulfinch  lay  mostly  in  the 
design  of  public  buildings,  of  which  the  original  Massa- 
chusetts State  Capitol,  on  historic  'Beacon  Hill  in  Bos- 
ton, is  perhaps  the  most  famous.  Bulfinch  designed  in 
a  vein  essentially  Classic,  and  governed  by  sound  aca- 
demic principles  in  planning  and  composition.  His 
ideal  was  dignity,  and  his  influence  on  the  younger 
architects  of  his  time  was  an  excellent  one,  making  for 
Classic  bases  of  architectural  thought. 

A  characteristic  New  England  structure  is  the 
white-painted  wooden  church,  whose  quaint  steeple 
gleams  among  so  many  grey-roofed  seaport  towns  and 
so  many  elm-shaded  streets  of  villages  from  Maine  to 
Connecticut.  Here,  again,  is  a  type  of  direct  English 
derivation,  based,  in  a  naive  and  often  primitive  man- 


NATIVE  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE          179 

ner,  on  the  works  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren  in  England. 
Most  of  the  towers  of  these  New  England  churches, 
with  the  addition  of  a  shingled  steeple,  are  of  the 
general  character  of  the  beautiful  tower  of  the  old 
State  House,  "Independence  Hall,"  in  Philadelphia. 
The  towers  rose  over  the  entrance  front  of  the  church, 
ascending  in  a  series  of  diminishing  boxes  until  the 
steeple  was  reached,  this  sometimes  springing  from  a 
delicately  designed  "lantern."  Many  of  the  early 
wooden  churches  of  New  England  were  beautifully 
designed,  the  tower  of  Trinity  Church,  in  Newport, 
Rhode  Island,  being  conceded  to  be  one  of  the  finest 
examples. 

All  the  early  American  churches  of  this  type  were 
of  earlier  date  than  those  strange  and  incongruous 
monuments  of  clumsy  carpentry,  called  by  Mr.  Cram, 
with  acid  cleverness, ' ' Grasco-Baptist. "  "It  cannot  be 
mistaken:  front  porticos  ...  of  four-foot  Classi- 
cal columns  made  of  seven-eighths  inch  pine  stock, 
neatly  nailed  together  and  painted  white,  echoing  like 
a  drum  to  the  incautious  kick  of  the  heel;  slab  sides, 
covered  with  clapboards,  green  blinds  to  the  round- 
topped  windows,  and  a  little  bit  of  a  brick  chim- 
ney sticking  up  at  the  stern,  where  once,  in  happier 
days,  stood  the  little  cote  that  housed  the  Sanctus 
bell." 

Disregarding  these  blundering  examples  of  mis- 
understood l  i  Classicism, ' '  church  builders  in  small  and 
historic  New  England  villages  would  do  well  to  remem- 
ber that  their  most  appropriate  and  proper  house  of 
prayer  should  be  designed  along  the  lines  of  that  which 
was  so  sincerely  built  by  their  forefathers — better 
designed,  perhaps,  more  refined  detail  by  a  trained 
architect,  more  refined  lines  to  the  delicate,  tapering 


180     THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

wooden  tower,  yet  in  the  essential  element  of  style,  an 
" Early  American  Church." 

Few  small  parishes  can  afford  a  good  Gothic  church, 
and  if  a  Gothic  church  be  not  a  good  one,  the  congre- 
gation would  do  well  to  hold  services  in  the  fields. 
Nothing  is  more  pathetic  or  repellent,  speaking  both 
humanly  and  architecturally,  than  to  behold  a  small 
country  church  which  is  a  vainglorious  and  pretentious 
sham  in  its  architectural  expression — having  departed 
arrogantly  from  the  humble  place  of  worship  of  a  more 
sincere  and  devout  generation,  yet  obviously  not  within 
thinking  distance  from  the  more  sophisticated  church 
it  is  stupidly  aping.  There  is,  in  such  futile  pretense, 
an  attempted  glorification  of  a  purse-proud  parish,  and 
no  glorification  whatever  of  Deity. 

A  New  England  architectural  manner  which  has 
come  to  be  regarded  as  an  actual  " style"  is  the 
so-called  ''Harvard"  type,  the  name  derived  from  the 
earliest  buildings  erected  for  the  old  University  in 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts. 

These  buildings  were  of  brick,  very  simply  handled, 
and  accent  given  by  white  door  and  window  trim  and 
white  cornice.  In  general  character,  the  old  Harvard 
buildings  were,  of  course,  English,  with  certain  inter- 
esting Colonial  inflections.  It  is  from  "Harvard" 
architecture  that  the  architects  of  modern  times  (Stan- 
ford White  the  first)  revived  the  use  of  occasional 
burnt  bricks  to  relieve  the  monotony  of  large  uniform 
expanses  of  wall.  In  burning  bricks,  the  ends  of  a  cer- 
tain number  must  be  exposed  to  the  fires  in  the  kiln, 
and  become  discolored  in  various  shades  of  blue,  grey 
and  purple,  up  to  black.  At  the  time  when  the  first 
buildings  at  Harvard  University  were  erected,  brick 
was  too  scarce  a  material  to  allow  of  discarding  those 


NATIVE  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE          181 

with  burnt  ends,  so  these  were  built  into  the  walls  at 
random  with  the  other  bricks.  The  effect  was,  naturally, 
an  interesting  one,  and  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  origin 
of  the  present  excellent  variety  of  harmoniously  colored 
bricks,  to  be  considered  in  greater  detail  in  Part  II. 

When  brick  became  more  plentiful,  bricklayers  very 
stupidly  threw  out  all  the  burnt  bricks,  using  them  only 
in  the  construction  of  drains,  or  of  wall  foundations 
beneath  the  level  of  the  ground.  A  long  period  fol- 
lowed in  which  the  bricklayer's  ideal  and  aim  was  to 
lay  up  a  wall  of  absolutely  uniform  jointing,  devoid  of 
any  suggestion  of  " color"  or  "interest"  or  "texture." 

It  was  left  for  the  architects  of  our  own  time  to 
discover  that  much  of  the  charm  of  the  brickwork  in 
the  old  Harvard  buildings  came  from  the  * '  accidental ' ' 
diversity  effected  by  the  recurrence  of  burnt  brick- 
ends.  This  led  to  a  new  interest  in  color  and  texture 
in  brick,  as  well  as  to  a  realisation  of  the  possibilities 
of  forming  patterns  in  brickwork,  and  bricks  with  burnt 
ends  soon  became  highly  sought,  and  specified,  instead 
of  rejected  as  inferior. 

The  "Harvard"  style  has  been  very  successfully 
developed  in  designs  for  clubs,  schools,  city-houses  and 
many  other  types  of  building  in  which  the  desired  archi- 
tectural expression  was  one  of  dignity,  simplicity  and 
interest. 

Having  studied  this  necessarily  brief  review  of  the 
architecture  of  New  England — Colonial  and  Georgian 
Colonial — let  us  discover,  if  possible,  what  may  be  its 
message  to  the  architect  or  the  home  builder  of  to-day. 
It  is  this: 

New  England  architecture  of  Colonial  times  affords 
a  wealth  of  suggestion  and  an  admirable  basis  of  design 
for  New  England  buildings  of  to-day.  No  type  of 


182     THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

architecture  could  be  more  unsuitable  or  more  alien 
as  a  style  for  any  building  in  the  far  West  or  the  South. 

New  England  is  one  of  the  oldest  settled  localities 
in  this  country,  and  in  most  townships  there  exist  to-day 
a  large  number  of  historic  homes  and  old  wooden 
churches  of  earlier  days.  Let  the  prospective  builder, 
therefore,  bear  this  in  mind,  as  well  as  the  committee 
member  who  is  vested  with  the  responsibility  of  choos- 
ing an  architect  or  voting  on  plans  for  a  new  church 
or  library  building. 

In  comparison  with  Europe  we  are  poor  in  architec- 
tural traditions  and  in  social  and  local  traditions.  Let 
us,  therefore,  guard  jealously,  and  even  build  up  those 
which  we  have.  If  we  live  in  a  quaint,  old  New  England 
township,  where  unpretentious  white-painted  houses 
gleam  among  the  trunks  of  old  wayside  shade  elms  and 
lilac  hedges,  let  us  oppose  by  every  means  in  our  power 
the  intrusion  of  any  architectural  style  alien  to  the 
locality.  "We  need  not  even  follow  local  precedent  to 
the  extent  of  foregoing  our-  ideals  in  the  house  we  are 
building.  We  may  modernise  and  modify,  yet  erect  a 
building  true  to  type  and  pleasantly  harmonising  with 
the  older  houses  of  the  neighbourhood.  A  skilful  archi- 
tect can  introduce  sleeping  porches  and  verandas — 
and  certainly  every  interior  convenience,  yet  remain 
happily  within  the  pale  of  consistency.  Do  not  ask 
him  to  design  a  stucco  house  with  Spanish  mission  tile 
roof  in  a  peaceful  little  hamlet  in  the  Berkshires.  The 
offence  would  be  one  against  good  taste  as  well  as 
against  architectural  propriety. 

The  New  England  type  of  house,  either  Early  or 
Georgian  Colonial,  holds  ample  possibility  of  architec- 
tural development  into  a  charming,  seemly,  comfort- 


NATIVE  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE         183 

able,  homelike  and  entirely  desirable  house  for  the 
New  England  home  builder  of  to-day. 

South  of  the  southernmost  of  the  New  England 
states,  Connecticut,  there  are  apparent  in  certain  parts 
of  New  York  State,  and  New  Jersey,  traces  of  another 
type  of  early  American  house — the  type  known  as 
" Dutch  Colonial." 

These  old  farm  houses,  which  hold  much  of  interest- 
ing suggestion  to  the  architect  of  to-day,  are  to  be 
found  on  Long  Island,  on  Staten  Island  (old  Dutch 
" Staaten"},  on  both  banks  of  Hudson,  northward  from 
New  York  City,  and  even  up  the  Mohawk  Valley. 

The  most  familiar  of  the  superficial  characteristics 
of  the  Dutch  Colonial  house  is  the  roof-line — a  low, 
graceful  sweep,  differing  entirely  from  the  steep,  often 
harsh  gambrel  roofs  of  early  New  England  houses.  In 
the  Dutch  Colonial  gambrel  roof  the  "shoulder"  is  near 
the  ridge-pole,  and  the  longer  sweep  is  downward  from 
the  shoulder  to  the  eaves,  while  the  "shoulder"  of  the 
New  England  gambrel  is  usually  nearer  the  eaves  than 
the  ridge-pole,  which  makes  the  upper  slope  a  slight 
pitch  and  the  lower  slope,  from  shoulder  to  eaves,  a 
steep  pitch,  sometimes  nearly  vertical. 

The  original  Dutch  Colonial  house  was  a  modest 
affair,  usually  small  in  size,  and  made  to  accommodate 
growing  families  by  the  addition  of  successive  wings. 
The  typical  early  Dutch  Colonial  house  plan  placed  all 
the  rooms  on  the  ground  floor  and  utilised  the  space 
under  the  low  roof  for  storage.  As  the  type  developed, 
the  houses  were  built  with  a  half-story  under  the  roof, 
lighted  and  ventilated  (most  inadequately)  by  means 
of  small  windows  at  the  level  of  the  floor.  A  few 
houses,  it  is  true,  were  built  with  full  second  story, 
though  the  type  as  a  type  connotes  a  low  building,  set 


184    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

close  to  the  ground  and  rendered  essentially  pictu- 
resque by  the  low,  graceful  contour  of  its  roof  and  the 
diversity  of  building  materials  used  in  its  construction. 

The  natural  building  material  of  the  Dutch,  if  we 
look  across  to  Holland,  would  be  brick,  but  in  this  new 
country  brick  was  most  difficult  to  obtain,  although  its 
manufacture  was  encouraged  by  the  governments  of  all 
the  colonies.  One  is  often  shown  early  American  brick- 
work in  which  the  bricks  are  pointed  out  as  having  been 
brought  over  from  Holland  by  the  first  Dutch  settlers. 
Some  of  this  brick,  no  doubt,  was  actually  imported, 
often  as  ballast,  but  by  far  the  greater  quantity  was 
made  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  is  taken  for 
Holland  brick  because  Holland  dimensions  were  used  in 
its  manufacture. 

Failing  to  obtain  brick,  the  Dutch  Colonial  builder 
made  ready  use  of  local  stone,  either  carefully  squared 
and  dressed,  or  laid  up  in  rubble  masonry. 

Some  Dutch  Colonial  houses  were  built  entirely  of 
wood,  though  comparatively  few  of  these  have  survived 
the  years.  The  interesting  peculiarity  of  these  houses, 
however,  lies  in  the  fact  that  all  four  walls  may  be  of 
different  construction.  The  gable  ends  were  usually 
of  stone,  as  well  as  the  front,  which  was  most  often 
treated  with  a  coat-  of  stucco.  The  rear  might  be  of 
wood,  or  walls  of  brick,  stone  and  wood  might  be  used 
in  the  same  house.  In  studying  the  Dutch  Colonial 
house  it  is  often  difficult  to  determine  whether  or  not 
the  front  porch,  formed  by  an  additional  projection  of 
the  eaves,  is  an  addition  subsequent  to  the  house  itself 
or  of  coincident  construction.  Houses  with  and  with- 
out porches  are  both  met  with  equal  frequency.  The 
porch,  however,  so  conspicuous  by  its  absence  through- 
out New  England  in  all  early  houses,  is  peculiar  to  the 


NATIVE  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE         185 

Dutch,  and  forms  the  origin  of  this  essentially  Amer- 
ican feature. 

We  have  no  European  prototype  for  the  porch,  even 
in  the  Italian  loggia,  and  as  our  journey  of  architectural 
observation  extends  southward  we  will  perceive  early 
American  porches  more  nearly  resembling  those  of  the 
present  American  dwelling  than  even  the  Dutch  type. 
Attention  is  directed  especially  to  the  two  old  New 
Orleans  Creole  plantation  villas  illustrated.  Two  in- 
teresting minor  details  of  the  Dutch  Colonial  house, 
both  widely  employed  to-day,  are  the  Dutch  door  and 
the  saw-cut  wooden  shutters.  The  Dutch  door  is  famil- 
iar to  all — cut  horizontally  through  its  centre  so  that 
the  upper  half  may  be  thrown  open  to  admit  light  and 
air,  while  the  lower  remains,  closed  to  prevent  the 
ingress  of  straying  poultry,  or  the  egress  of  would-be 
straying  children.  The  solid  shutters,  with  apertures 
sawed  in  the  forms  of  hearts,  crescent  moons  and  other 
devices,  have  been  recognised  to-day  as  an  inexpensive 
yet  very  attractive  detail  for  many  a  modern  cottage. 

As  the  architecture  of  Colonial  America  became 
(more  developed  along  Classic  lines,  with  Georgian 
Adam  detail  spread  through  the  work  of  such  men  as 
Mclntyre  and  through  the  agency  of  a  few  good  books 
of  designs,  many  charming  mantelpieces  and  door- 
ways began  to  grace  the  previously  rather  primitive 
Dutch  farm  house.  Classic  forms,  however,  were  ren- 
dered with  an  interesting  freedom  and  individuality- 
were  used,  for  the  most  part  as  suggestions  rather  than 
working  models,  so  that  the  architect  of  to-day  may 
find  much  of  interest,  well  worth  his  study.  As  might 
be  expected  from  the  hands  of  a  people  who  delighted, 
in  Holland,  in  a  free  use  of  bright  colours  in  architec- 
ture and  furniture,  we  find  many  interiors,  unlike  the 


186     THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

prevalent  chaste  white  of  New  England,  carried  out  in 
various  shades  of  blue  and  olive  green. 

In  considering  the  adaptability  of  the  Dutch  Colo- 
nial style  for  present-day  uses,  certain  striking  facts 
should  be  apparent.  Designed  to  fulfil  the  primitive 
needs  of  very  unpretentious  settlers,  mostly  farmers, 
the  Dutch  Colonial  house  copied  as  it  stands  would 
leave  much  to  be  desired — would,  indeed,  fail  to  come 
up  to  the  requirements  of  even  the  moderate  cottage 
of  to-day. 

In  point  of  style,  however,  the  Dutch  Colonial  house 
should  find  even  wider  acceptance  in  its  native  locality 
than  is  at  present  accorded  it,  especially  for  the  small 
and  comparatively  inexpensive  cottage  or  suburban 
home.  It  possesses  a  local  historic  appropriateness 
which,  in  itself,  is  an  invaluable  asset,  and  its  pictu- 
resque lines,  peculiarly  expressive  of  domesticity,  are 
such  that  a  house  of  diminutive  size  or  of  ample  propor- 
tions may  be  designed  with  due  regard  for  stylistic 
propriety.  In  no  flight  of  architectural  misconception, 
however,  could  the  Dutch  Colonial  type  of  house  be 
used  as  a  model  for  a  stately  and  pretentious  mansion. 

Several  American  architects  have  attained  conspic- 
uous success  in  the  rendering  of  small  and  medium- 
sized  dwellings  in  style  of  the  Dutch  Colonial  farm 
house,  making,  with  as  much  grace  as  possible,  such 
modifications  and  additions  as  have  been  found  neces- 
sary. Chief  among  these  has  been  the  addition  of  dor- 
mer windows  (never  seen  in  the  original  Dutch  farm 
house)  to  give  light  and  height  to  the  upstairs  rooms. 
In  many  cases  the  profile  of  these  dormer  windows, 
especially  if  designed  to  effect  head-room  on  the  second 
floor,  destroys  the  proper  Dutch  contour  of  the  gambrel 
roof,  yet  a  general  effect  of  simplicity,  and  even  such 


NATIVE  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE          187 

minor  details  as  quaint  Dutch  hardware,  a  Dutch  door 
and  Dutch  shutters  may  proclaim  the  source  of 
inspiration. 

Immediately  south  of  that  territory  near  Manhattan 
Island  where  the  Dutch  Colonial  style  left  its  influence 
on  American  architecture,  there  is  found  another  type — 
a  type  necessarily  complex  by  reason  of  the  varied 
nationalities  represented  by  the  early  colonists.  To 
western  and  southern  New  Jersey,  to  Pennsylvania  and 
to  Delaware  came  English,  Welsh,  Swedes  and  Ger- 
mans. The  first  predominated  in  numbers  and  in- 
fluence, but  in  certain  localities  there  were  communities 
entirely  distinct  in  their  observance  of  language,  social 
and  religious  customs  of  their  home  countries.  To-day 
such  names  as  'Bryn  Mawr,  Cynwyd  and  Bryn  Athyn, 
bespeak  the  original  seats  of  Welsh  colonists.  Ger- 
mantown,  now  a  part  of  Philadelphia,  but  originally  an 
all-German  settlement,  bespeaks  the  early  Teuton  colo- 
nist, and  the  Swedes  have  left  such  monuments  as  Gloria 
Dei,  or  ' '  Old  Swedes ' '  Church,  plainly  Scandinavian  in 
many  points  of  its  design,  and  the  imprint  of  native  arts 
and  Swedish  names  in  many  parts  of  Philadelphia  and 
its  vicinity. 

It  is  not  strange  that  these  varied  nationalities 
should  have  left  equally  varied  architectural  legacies, 
since  each  observed,  to  some  extent,  the  traditions  of 
the  home  country.  The  study  of  these  national  traits, 
however,  sometimes  clearly  defined,  sometimes  blended 
or  modified,  would  involve  a  detailed  study  unfortu- 
nately out  of  proportion  to  the  present  review. 

The  writer  can  hope  only  to  point  out  certain  salient 
characteristics  which  mark  the  "Pennsylvania  type" 
of  dwelling  as  it  may  be  regarded  to-day  as  an  inspira- 
tion for  modern  architects. 


188     THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

Staunch  and  skilful  stone  building  was  a  Welsh 
tradition,  so  that  even  the  earliest  houses  are  found  to 
constitute  admirable  models  for  the  workmen  of  to-day. 
In  early  times,  brick  was  not  so  plentiful  as  it  became 
later,  while  the  local  ledge  stone,  especially  such  as  is 
still  quarried  at  Chestnut  Hill,  near  Philadelphia,  pre- 
sented itself  as  the  most  available  permanent  building 
material. 

An  early  Pennsylvania  house  of  the  Welsh  type  is 
to  be  seen  in  "  Wynnestay,"  which  forms  the  subject  of 
one  of  the  illustrations.  Salient  characteristics  are  to 
be  cited  as  a  general  sturdiness  of  aspect,  an  honest  kind 
of  simplicity  admirably  echoed  in  many  works  of  the 
Philadelphia  architects  of  to-day.  The  stone-masonry 
is  worthy  of  special  study,  and  such  details  as  the  solid 
wooden  shutters  and  the  quaint  hoods  over  the  doors 
must  be  remembered  as  characteristic. 

There  was  a  certain  local  resemblance  traceable  in 
the  earlier  farm  houses  of  Pennsylvania,  lower  New 
Jersey  and  Delaware — a  resemblance  which  is  to  be 
noted  even  in  the  homes  of  colonists  of  varying 
nationalities. 

While  the  exterior  walls  of  many  of  these  houses, 
fitted  with  white-painted  window  frames,  were  left  in 
the  natural  stone,  some  were  roughly  stuccoed,  in  the 
manner  called  ''roughcast"  by  English  architects,  and 
whitewashed.  This  interestingly  primitive  device  has 
been  very  successfully  employed  by  several  of  the 
present-day  local  architects  in  their  admirable  modern 
renderings  of  the  historic  type  of  the  vicinity.  As 
wealth  and  sophistication  took  the  place  of  comparative 
poverty  and  Quaker  simplicity  in  Penn's  colony,  the 
architecture  lost  much  of  its  original  charm.  On  honest 
rough-stone  houses  were  grafted  pompous  Georgian 


From  "The  Colonial  Houses  of  Philadelphia,"  Eberlein  and  Lippincott 

THE  PROTOTYPE 

A  Colonial  Pennsylvania  dwelling  built  in  1689 
("  Wynnestay,  "  near  Philadelphia} 


Charles  Barton  Keen.  Architect 


THE  DERIVATION 
A  modern  Pennsylvania  dwelling,  maintaining  in  its  design  the  sterling  qualities  of  its  prototype 


-, 


From  "Colonial  Architecture  for  Those  About  to  Build,"  Wise  &  Beidleruan 

Mount  Pleasant  and  Dependencies,  Philadelphia 


From  "Colonial  Architecture  for  Those  About  to  Build,"  Wise  &  Ht'idleman 

"Cliveden,"  Germantown,  Pa. 

THE  PRE-REVOLUTIONARY  "MANSION"  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 

More  pretentious  than  the  dwellings  of  the  early  colonists,  the  Georgian  mansions  of  Pennsylvania 
showed  evidences  of  Classic  design  and  architectural  pomp 


Duliriiift,  Okie  &  Xicgk-r,  Architects 


The  dwelling  of  Revolutionary  days  in  America  furnishes  precedent  for  a  type  of  house 
unlike  any  European  type 


Dub  ring,  Okie  &  /iegler,  Architects 


Early  American  dwellings  in  Pennsylvania  have  afforded  a  happy  inspiration  for  local 

adaptations 

A  NATIVE  AMERICAN  TYPE 


Photograph  by  Ph.  B.  Wallace 

TYPICAL  OF  THE  BEST  GEORGIAN  ARCHITECTURE  IN  AMERICA 
A  committee  of  three  Philadelphia  gentlemen  was  responsible  for  this  remarkably  beautiful 
building.     It  embodies  all  the   salient  characteristics  of  the   best  Georgian   architecture   of 
America 

(The  State  House-  "Independence  Hall,"  Philadelphia) 


NATIVE  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE          189 

doorways  and  Classic  details  thrust  themselves,  often 
ill-advisedly,  upon  modest  farm  dwellings.  The 
Georgian  period,  of  course,  saw  the  erection  of  many 
fine  and  stately  mansions  of  high  architectural  merit, 
but  the  most  charming  architectural  legacy  of  Penn- 
sylvania, as  the  local  architects  have  interpreted  it,  is 
the  Early  Colonial  type,  shown  in  several  of  the 
illustrations. 

The  environs  of  Philadelphia  are  to  be  congratu- 
lated upon  the  good  taste  of  the  group  of  architects  who 
have  consistently  followed  native  local  precedent  in  the 
design  of  suburban  and  country  homes.  This  proce- 
dure has  not  only  assured  the  continuity  of  a  worthy 
and  appropriate  type  of  dwelling,  but  has  made  for  an 
agreeable  effect  of  architectural  consistency  so  dis- 
tressingly absent  in  most  parts  of  America.  A  drive 
through  the  beautiful  suburbs  of  Philadelphia  will 
impress  the  observer  with  the  thought  that  here  has 
been  evidenced  a  respect  for  the  continuity  of  archi- 
tectural development.  The  houses,  it  is  plain,  have 
been  modernised,  which,  indeed,  it  is  proper  they  should 
be.  The  needs  and  requirements  of  modern  country 
life  have  been  given  expression  in  a  delightful  local 
architectural  dialect. 

Mention  should  be  made  here  of  the  Anglo-Penn- 
sylvanian  type — a  picturesque  architecture  which  is 
most  notably  expressed  in  the  always  interesting  works 
of  Wilson  Eyre,  and  in  much  of  the  work  of  younger 
architects  who  have  been  inspired  by  him.  In  this  style 
we  find  forms  distinctly  English,  honestly  rendered  in 
local  materials  and  in  local  idioms  of  expression,  some- 
times blended  with  the  Native  Colonial  type.  That  the 
result  is  entirely  pleasing  is  doubtless  due  to  the  pre- 


190    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

dominant  Anglo-Saxon  strain  which  is  still  strong  in 
Pennsylvania. 

Further  south,  in  Maryland,  in  Virginia  and  in  the 
Carolinas,  the  type  changes.  The  most  popular  mental 
picture  of  the  Southern  mansion,  however,  is  a  picture 
of  the  later  type  rather  than  the  earlier  and  less-known 
plantation  dwelling. 

The  first  colonists,  though  mostly  people  of 
"quality,"  were  tremendously  handicapped  by  lack  of 
facilities.  Labour  and  materials  were  both  painfully 
scarce,  so  that  the  original  manor,  or '  *  big  house ' '  which 
stood  on  the  site  of  the  splendid  establishment  of  later 
years,  was  often  far  from  magnificent.  Building  stone 
is  scarce  in  the  South,  and  the  first  colonists  had  little 
or  no  brick.  Their  dwellings,  then,  made  little  pre- 
tence to  magnificence,  and  attained,  at  best,  a  certain 
element  of  dignity  which  was  a  reflection  of  the  people 
who  built  them. 

Later,  as  more  ships  plied  the  ocean  and  more 
skilled  labourers,  either  free  or  indentured,  found  their 
way  to  the  new  country,  it  became  possible  for  the  now 
wealthy  plantation  owners  to  erect  mansions  more  befit- 
ting their  estate.  Brick  became  more  plentiful,  so  that 
there  were  built  stately  mansions  of  the  type  of '  'White- 
hall," in  Maryland,  or  "Westover,"  the  seat  of  the 
Byrds  in  Virginia. 

An  appreciation  and  understanding  of  "The  Classic 
Taste ' '  in  architecture,  the  Georgian  vogue  of  England, 
became  a  part  of  the  education  of  a  gentleman,  so  that 
the  chaste  dignity  of  the  ancient  Greek  temple  lived 
again  in  the  stately  colonnaded  "  porticos  "  of  the 
Southern  mansions.  This  Classic  strain  was  often  car- 
ried to  an  extreme  during  the  later  "Kevival"  as  in 
such  examples  as  "Andalusia"  on  the  Delaware  (a 


4 


NATIVE  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE         191 

perfect  peristylar  Greek  Doric  temple,  surrounding 
a  dwelling  house)  and  continued  in  favour  for  some 
time  after  the  Revolutionary  War,  as  evidenced  by 
Thomas  Jefferson's  design  for  his  own  home,  "Monti- 
cello,"  and  for  the  buildings  of  the  University  of 
Virginia. 

In  comparing  the  later  Colonial  architecture  of  the 
South  with  that  of  other  parts  of  the  country,  it  must 
be  remembered  that  it  was  the  architecture,  for  the  most 
part,  of  people  of  considerable  culture,  means,  refine- 
ment, leisure  and  classical  education.  Slaves  worked 
the  plantations,  and  the  master  dwelt  in  a  sort  of  patri- 
archal magnificence,  not  unlike  a  feudal  lord,  though 
more  like  a  prosperous  English  squire.  The  difference 
lay  in  the  fact  that  the  planter's  broad  acres  were  made 
productive  by  slaves  instead  of  by  tenants. 

The  life  of  the  planter  and  of  his  family  was  natu- 
rally one  of  considerable  ease  and  of  palpable  dignity, 
so  that  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  a  reflection  of  such 
a  mode  of  life  in  his  dwelling. 

The  study  of  Colonial  and  Post-Colonial  architec- 
ture in  the  South,  however,  like  the  detailed  study  of  the 
architecture  of  any  portion  of  America,  may  readily 
and  interestingly  form  the  subject  of  an  extensive  book 
in  itself. 

We  can  do  little  more  than  place  it,  here,  in  its 
relation  to  other  early  architectural  expressions  in 
America,  and  point  out  the  role  which  it  may  properly 
play  in  its  use  as  a  model  for  the  architect  of  to-day. 
By  all  means  the  Southern  plantation  manor  of  the 
Georgian  Colonial  period,  as  well  as  certain  modifi- 
cations of  its  later  development  under  the  Classic  Re- 
vival, may  be  regarded  as  a  suitable  model  for  the 
pountry  residence  of  any  American  gentleman  of  to-day. 


192    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

Through  historic  association,  however,  we  think  of  the 
Southern  plantation  manor  only  in  connection  with  a 
considerable  estate,  where  an  imposing  gateway,  a 
gate  lodge  and  the  other  evidences  of  a  grand  establish- 
ment proclaim  the  owner  a  person  of  wealth  and 
prominence. 

American  architects  of  to-day  have  designed  many 
admirable  country  houses  after  the  style  of  the  great 
Southern  manors — to  enumerate  them,  indeed,  would 
occupy  several  pages.  The  style  should  be  remembered 
as  an  excellently  appropriate  native  expression  for  the 
stately  mansion  which  is  to  grace  an  extensive  country 
estate.  In  its  essentials,  it  is  Georgian,  a  purely 
English  style,  but  its  use  by  the  great  land-owning 
colonists  of  our  Southern  states  has  placed  upon  it  an 
ineradicable  stamp  of  American  nationalism. 

In  New  Orleans,  Louisiana,  there  exists  a  type  of 
Colonial  architecture  as  little  known  as  it  is  interesting 
— the  architecture  of  the  French  Creole  planters. 

A  correction  of  a  popular  misconception  of  the  term 
"Creole"  might  here  be  in  place.  The  name  belonged 
first  to  those  families  descended  from  the  early  French 
settlers,  and  came  later  to  include  certain  Spanish  fami- 
lies as  well.  The  designation  "Creole"  implied  the 
highest  social  distinction,  and  was  used  (contrary  to 
current  supposition)  to  apply  only  to  those  families 
which  were  entirely  without  admixture  of  coloured 
stock. 

These  Creole  families  were,  in  most  cases,  French 
people  of  fine  family,  some  of  them  titled  Huguenots, 
living  in  exile  under  assumed  names.  Others  were 
political  exiles,  and  many  a  quaint  old  plantation  villa, 
screened  behind  semi-tropical  verdure  at  the  head  of  a 
bayou,  concealed  treasures  in  rare  French  furniture, 


From  "Colonial  Mansions  of  Maryland  iin<l  Delaware,"  John  Martin  Hammond 
AN    EXAMPLE    OF   THE    PRE-REVOLUTIONARY    SOUTHERN    MANOR-HOUSE 

The  finest  development  of  American  Colonial  architecture  in  the  South  was  along  Classic  Georgian 

lines 
("Whitehall,"  Anne  Arundel  County,  Maryland) 


Photograph  by  Julian  Hiirkly 

AN    AMERICAN    EXAMPLE    OF    THE    "CLASSIC    MANSION"    OF    GEORGIAN 

ARCHITECTURE 

Through   its   successive   alterations,    this   example   of   the   "pediment-and-portioo"    type   has 

remained  true  to  its  expression  of  the  formal  phase  of  early  American  Classic  design 

(The  White  House,  Washington,  D.  C.) 


I-IIIHI 


Photographs  l>y  Aymer  Kmlmry  II 

TWO  EXAMPLES  OF  THE  CREOLE  ARCHITECTURE  OF  LOUISIANA— A  LITTLE 
KNOWN  AMERICAN  TYPE 

Influences  both  French  and  Spanish  in  the  far  South  combined  to  develop  a  type  of  dwelling 
peculiar  to  Louisiana — the  "Plantation  Villas"  of  New  Orleans  and  its  vicinitv 


NATIVE  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE          193 

glassware  and  silver,  taken  overseas  by  the  fugitives  to 
grace  their  retreats  in  the  strange  New  World. 

As  in  the  English  colonies  of  "The  Virginias"  and 
"The  Carolinas,"  the  plantations  (mostly  cotton)  were 
worked  by  negro  slaves,  and  as  New  Orleans  was,  from 
its  earliest  days,  a  busy  port,  its  inhabitants  became 
prosperous  in  trade. 

The  Creole  plantation  villa,  as  it  was  called,  was 
built  in  much  the  same  manner  as  the  plantation  villas 
of  the  West  Indies.  The  actual  house,  as  dwelt  in  by 
the  master  and  his  family,  was  raised  a  story  above 
the  ground,  to  avoid  malarial  dampness  at  night,  while 
the  ground-level  floor  contained  the  kitchens  and  the 
unattractive  quarters  of  the  house  servants,  many  of 
whom,  also,  dwelt  in  cabins  with  the  plantation  hands. 

The  picturesque  aspect  of  these  old  French  Colonial 
villas  lay  largely  in  their  low  lines  and  in  the  treatment 
of  the  premier  etage  porch  or  gallery,  with  its  slender 
turned  posts  and  simple  railings.  Some  of  these  old 
New  Orleans  houses  show  Spanish  influence  in  the  pres- 
ence of  an  entirely  Spanish  patio.  Built  to  meet  the 
tastes  and  requirements  of  a  people  and  a  life  now 
almost  vanished,  this  quaint  architecture  of  our  most 
Southern  (and  once  most  picturesque)  city  may  still 
afford  some  interesting  flashes  of  inspiration  for  the 
architect  of  to-day,  who  has  hitherto  regarded  it,  per- 
haps, as  an  historical  curiosity  rather  than  a  document 
of  American  architecture  containing  many  dormant 
possibilities. 

In  studying  native  American  types  of  architecture, 
especially  in  the  light  of  modern  adaptations  of  the 
work  of  our  colonists,  we  must  not  forget  that,  at  a  very 
early  date  Spanish  missionaries  were  braving  the  dan- 
gers of  the  Far  West  to  carry  Christianity  to  the 
13 


194     THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

Indians  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  as  the  French  Missionary 
Pere  Marquette,  had  preached  and  taught  it  up  and 
down  the  Mississippi  valley.  The  great  Spanish  mis- 
sionary-martyr, Fra  Junipero,  with  his  faithful  fol- 
lowers, left  behind  them  a  great  many  buildings  which 
possess  for  us  to-day  a  strong  significance,  now  being 
appreciated  by  the  architects  of  the  Pacific  Coast. 

Mission  architecture,  for  the  most  part,  needs  con- 
siderable modification  for  use  to-day,  because  those 
early  monks  and  missionaries  who  reared  the  pictu- 
resque buildings  for  their  churches  and  monasteries 
were  sadly  handicapped  in  building  facilities.  Vir- 
tually all  the  work  had  to  be  performed  by  their  own 
hands,  with  but  little  assistance  from  their  new  con- 
verts, so  that  it  was  necessarily  crude.  There  is,  how- 
ever, a  distinct  element  of  architectural  sincerity  per  se, 
quite  dissociated  from  the  romantic  interest  naturally 
associated  with  the  early  missions.  There  were  beauti- 
ful proportions,  charming  cloisters  and,  in  general,  a 
marked  degree  of  appropriateness  in  these  buildings. 
Some  brick  was  used  in  their  construction,  and  a  little 
stone.  Adobe,  the  natural  local  clay,  was  a  material 
ready  to  hand  and  easily  worked.  Wood  was  little 
used,  and  nearly  always  with  quaintly  crude  carpentry. 
Wall  surfaces  were  plain,  and  roofs  were  of  the  corru- 
gated tile  familiar  in  Spain.  It  is  a  little  remarkable 
that  the  early  Spanish  missions  are  not  more  widely 
proclaimed  as  one  of  our  most  picturesque  and  avail- 
able types  of  American  architecture.  Spanish- Ameri- 
can, perhaps,  yet  essentially  appropriate  to  that  local- 
ity, as  inspiration  for  the  architects  of  our  entire 
Pacific  Coast  and  Southwest. 

Pacific  Coast  architects  have  availed  themselves  of 
this  peculiarly  interesting  local  type  to  some  extent, 


EARLY  SPANISH  ARCHITECTURE  ON  AMERICAN  SOIL 

Outer  wall  of  San  Gabriel  Mission,  Los  Angeles,  California  (1780).  The  architecture  of  the 
Spanish  Missions  possessed  many  traits  both  like  and  unlike  that  of  Spain,  and  the  "Mission" 
style  has  profoundly  influenced  modern  architectural  design  on  the  Pacific  Coast 


Robert  I>.  Farquahar,  Architect 

A    FREE    RENDERING   OF   SPANISH    AND    ITALIAN   THEMES 

(SIERRA    MADUE,   CALIFORNIA) 
The  modern  California!!  house  has  been  developed  along  lines  of  stylistic  appropriateness 


Irving  J.  Gill,  Architect 

A  TYPICAL  MODERN  CALIFORNIAN  RESIDENCE 

A  type  of  dwelling  derived  from  the  Spanish  and  Spanish  Colonial  hacienda,  with  severe 
exterior,  iron-grilled  windows  and  an  inner  garden  court,  or  polio.  "Mission"  simplicity 


is  also  apparent 


(A  residence  at  Los  Angeles,  California) 


NATIVE  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE          195 

blending  with  it  many  elements  more  directly  derived 
from  Spain  and  from  Italy,  and  have  also  developed 
a  distinctive  type  in  which  a  strong  Japanese  influence 
is  apparent,  especially  in  the  handling  of  exposed 
woodwork.  Much  interesting  work  is  yearly  added  to 
the  residential  architecture  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  from 
San  Diego  to  Seattle,  and  the  danger  most  to  be  feared, 
as  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  is  the  danger  of  a  lack 
of  architectural  unity.  In  American  architecture, 
caprice  is  constantly  militating  against  consistency, 
especially  in  the  matter  of  local  styles.  Consistency 
need  not  mean  monotony,  for  there  are  endless  and 
interesting  variations  to  be  played  upon  every  archi- 
tectural theme  to  which  we  have  fallen  heir. 

Most  public  buildings  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  as  well 
as  banks,  theatres,  and  the  like,  show  few  local  traits 
differing  conspicuously  from  similar  buildings  in  other 
parts  of  the  United  States — local  peculiarities,  mostly 
very  interesting  and  promising,  seem  confined  to  domes- 
tic architecture. 

Before  taking  up  three  distinctly  modern  and  dis- 
tinctly non-stylistic  types  of  American  architecture,  this 
review  should  briefly  bring  the  story  of  American 
architecture  up  to  date,  bridging  the  time  between  the 
period  of  clean-cut  native  colonial  types,  and  our  pres- 
ent period  of  varied  derivations. 

Following  the  early  Colonial  period,  came  the  Post- 
Colonial,  running  through  the  early  part  of  the  newly- 
established  nation,  and  extending  as  far  as  the  time  of 
the  Classic  Eevival,  of  which  more  was  said  in  the 
fourth  chapter.  This  was  in  1812,  when  national  feel- 
ings aroused  over  the  war  with  England  at  that  time, 
caused  us  to  turn  for  foreign  inspiration  toward 
France,  Hence  the  American  " Empire"  style — ultra- 


196     THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

classicism  in  architecture  and  furniture,  Greek  temples 
and  Pompeian  details  on  every  hand. 

What  was  worthy  in  design  as  a  result  of  this 
imported  Classic  taste,  such  monuments  as  Colonnade 
Eow,  old  "La  Grange  Terrace"  in  New  York,  was  soon 
lost  to  sight  in  the  years  of  architectural  chaos  which 
followed.  Early  Victorianism,  Euskinian  "Gothic," 
Eastlakian  fantasies,  debased  bourgeois  French  archi- 
tecture and  pseudo-Swiss  chalets  reared  themselves  in 
a  mad  nightmare  of  architectural  insanity.  In  1883 
the  Philadelphia  Centennial  "finally  revealed  us  as, 
architecturally  speaking,  the  most  savage  of  nations," 
and  from  this  time  on  some  glimmerings  of  architec- 
tural conscience  began  to  make  themselves  felt.  The 
so-called  "Queen  Anne"  style,  actually  based  on  the 
French  chateau  type,  if  on  anything,  was  a  sincere  effort 
toward  creating  a  type  of  house  which  should  be  both 
pleasing  and  picturesque.  Let  us  not  heap  too  much 
derision  upon  its  unnecessary  towers,  its  queer  windows 
and  generally  artificial  expression  of  picturesque 
values.  The  designers  of  that  time,  no  less  than  East- 
lake  himself,  did  not  realise  that  the  picturesque  is  not 
a  thing  of  design — that  it  "happens,"  and  if  the  result 
of  a  calculated  intention,  it  cannot  be  truly  picturesque. 

The  effects  of  the  ' '  Queen  Anne ' '  style,  however,  as 
well  as  the  effects  of  Eastlake  's  mad  outbursts  of  sun- 
flowers, spindles  and  rosettes,  lasted  well  into  the 
'90s,  and  are  to  be  felt  even  in  such  admirable  pieces 
of  design  as  McKim,  Mead  &  White 's  Newport  Casino, 
and  other  buildings  of  the  same  period. 

A  leaven  was  working,  however.  H.  H.  Richardson 
had  clarified  the  architectural  outlook  of  his  time  by 
his  own  splendid  vision  of  the  Romanesque  or  Byzan- 
tine Revival.  By  the  opening  of  the  World's  Fair  at 


AN   AMERICAN   TYPE 

A  typical  American  "seaside  villa,"  developed  from  no  historic  style,  European  or  native, 
and  purely  a  "natural  growth" 


AN  AMERICAN  TYPE  DEVELOPED  AS  AN  EXPRESSION  OF  THE 

"PICTURESQUE" 

In  many  American  country-houses,  from  1890  to  date,  interesting  effects  have  been  obtained 
by  quite  unorthodox  uses  of  European  architectural  motifs.  The-  result,  sometimes  pleasing 
and  sometimes  bizarre,  constitutes  no  architectural  "style,"  either  native  or  derived 


D.  Knickerbacker  Boyd,  Architect 


Ame 
seve 


irican  ideas  in  country-house  planning,  rendered  in  local  materials,  have  developed 
ral  types  too  remotely  associated  with  English  prototypes  to  be  called  "derivations" 


Mellor  &  Meigs,  Architects 

Design  to  meet  modern  American  requirements,  and  design  in  local  materials,  have  resulted 
in  the  creation  of  distinct  national  types 

MODERN  AMERICAN  COUNTRY  HOUSE  DEVELOPMENTS 


NATIVE  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE          197 

Chicago  in  1893  the  country  was  ready  for  a  change, 
ready  to  see  the  light  and  accept  new  architectural 
ideas.  There  sprang  up  in  Chicago  the  marvellous 
" White  City,"  a  thing  of  Classic  beauty,  yet  of  a 
classicism  which  was  recognised  as  bearing  a  message 
to  modernity. 

The  architects  of  the  World's  Fair,  notably  McKim, 
Mead  &  White,  became  the  leaders  of  architectural 
thought  and  effort  in  America,  and  the  present  era  of 
adaptations  and  derivations  commenced.  From  that 
time  to  the  present  the  pages  of  European  architecture 
have  been  the  pages  of  an  open  and  oft-consulted  book, 
as  must  be  graphically  apparent  in  a  glance  through 
our  illustrations.  In  the  course  of  evolution,  there  was 
a  certain  amount  of  opposition  on  the  part  of  many 
architects  who  felt  that  a  menace  to  freedom  lay  in  the 
direction  of  importing  architectural  styles  in  toto,  and 
there  appeared,  for  this  reason,  many  buildings  pecul- 
iarly American,  and  evidently  expressive  of  a  kind  of 
esthetic  revolt. 

On  one  page  appears  a  typical  American  ' '  sea-side 
cottage,"  built,  perhaps,  in  1896  or  thereabout,  as  also 
the  interestingly  (and  even  pleasingly)  conglomerate 
country  house  shown  below  it.  Certain  architectural 
ideas,  such  as  an  expression  (usually  counterfeit)  of 
English  half -timber  work,  were  brazenly  thrown  in  with 
a  fieldstone  chimney  of  the  most  informal  sort,  and  a 
Spanish  tile  roof — Spanish  in  tile  only,  and  anything 
else  in  profile.  Much  work  of  this  period,  possibly 
by  reason  of  the  very  element  of  recklessness  and  de- 
fiance in  the  intention  of  the  architects,  attained  values 
of  a  peculiarly  pleasing  kind  of  spontaneity  which  finds 
no  counterpart  in  many  better  studied  country  and  sea- 
side houses  of  to-day.  Newport,  in  Rhode  Island,  is 


198    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

rich  in  houses  of  this  kind,  as  also  Bar  Harbor  in  Maine, 
"the  north  shore,"  above  Boston,  and  many  other  fash- 
ionable summer  localities. 

The  deliberately  "picturesque"  house  is  seldom 
attempted  to-day — perhaps  it  has  succumbed  to  the 
critics'  not  always  merited  ridicule.  We  adhere  very 
strictly  to  adapted  European  styles,  or  to  modern  devel- 
opments of  early  American  types — excepting  in  three 
directions,  and  these  three  only  in  the  field  of  domestic 
architecture.  Owning  no  allegiance  to  precedent  or 
style,  we  find  Secessionist  architecture,  "Craftsman" 
architecture,  and  the  "bungalow,"  which  is  very  sel- 
dom a  bungalow  at  all. 

The  Middle  West,  usually  regarded  as  designating, 
specifically,  Chicago  and  its  vicinity,  has  developed 
several  strange,  interesting  types  of  architecture  which 
might  well  be  regarded  as  the  works  of  a  group  of  men 
who  should  be  called  the  "  American  Secessionists." 

Mr.  Cram,  in  an  address  on  "Style  in  American 
Architecture,"  paragraphs  them  as  follows: 

"The  Secessionist — one  might  sometimes  call  him 
Post-Impressionist,  Cubist,  even — is  the  latest  element 
to  be  introduced,  and  in  some  ways  he  is  the  most  inter- 
esting. Unlike  his  confreres  in  Germany,  Spain  and 
Scandinavia,  he  shows  himself  little  except  in  minor 
domestic  work — for  at  heart  we  are  a  conservative  race, 
whatever  individuals  may  be — but  here  he  is  stimulat- 
ing. His  habitat  seems  to  be  Chicago  and  the  Pacific 
Coast,  his  governing  conviction  a  strongly  developed 
enmity  to  archaeological  forms  of  any  kind.  Some  of 
the  little  houses  of  the  Middle  West  are  striking,  quite 
novel,  and  inordinately  clever;  some  of  the  work  on 
the  Pacific  Coast,  particularly  around  Pasadena,  is 
exquisite,  no  less.  Personally,  I  do  not  believe  it  is 


1'rank  Lloy<l  Wright,  Architect 

AN  EXPRESSION  OF  THE  EUROPEAN   "SECESSION"   IN  AMERICA 
Notably  in  the  Middle  West,  there  have  appeared  many  houses  which  express  an  endeavour 
to  depart  entirely  from  historic  styles  and  forms 


THE  ARCHITECTURE  OF  "THE  SIMPLE  LIFE" 

The  use  of  local  materials,  unadorned  and  frankly  employed,  is  the  "Craftsman"  creed 

— an  honest  and  unaffected  mode  of  living  is  here  expressed  in  architectural  terms 

(Home  of  Gustav  Stickley) 


ORIENTAL   INSPIRATION    IN    "BUNGALOW"    ARCHITECTURE    OF 

THE   PACIFIC  COAST 

Many  of  the  most  pleasing  of  California:*  cottages  and  bungalows  are  inspired 
by  characteristics  distinctly  Japanese 


FORMALITY  AND  INFORMALITY  IN  CALIFORNIAN 

ARCHITECTURE 

A  typical  Pacific  Coast  "Bungalow"  is  seen  through  an  entrance  pergola  of 
natural  redwood  trunks.  The  bungalow  itself  is  constructed  inside  and  out  of 
this  native  wood 


NATIVE  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE          199 

possible  wholly  to  sever  one's  self  from  the  past,  its 
forms  and  expression ;  and  it  certainly  would  be  unde- 
sirable. On  the  other  hand,  the  astute  archeology  of 
some  of  our  best  modern  work,  whether  Classic  or 
Gothic,  is  stupefying  and  leads  nowhere.  Out  of  the 
interplay  of  these  two  tendencies  much  of  value  may 
arise." 

An  illustration  will  convey  an  idea  of  the  charac- 
ter of  this  architecture  of  the  American  Secessionists— 
a  house  designed  by  the  greatest  exponent  of  the  style, 
Frank  Lloyd  Wright,  whose  work  has  profoundly  in- 
fluenced many  younger  architects  of  the  Middle  West. 

Some  more  general  comments  on  the  aim  and  intent 
of  the  Secessionist  idea,  as  well  as  a  paragraphic  survey 
of  the  "Art  Nouveau"  movement  are  reserved  for 
introduction  in  the  concluding  chapter  of  this  portion 
of  the  book. 

In  "Craftsman"  architecture  we  find  a  very  direct 
and  simple  expression  of  a  very  direct  and  simple 
idea.  The  "Craftsman  idea,"  indeed,  might  better  be 
called  a  "creed" — the  creed  of  the  simple  life.  The 
style  is  one  which,  were  its  origin  traced,  would  lead 
directly  back  to  William  Morris — a  style,  or  a  point  of 
view,  which  decries  all  adherence  to  forms  which  recall 
the  arts  of  foreign  lands  or  other  ages.  Its  exponents 
maintain  that  whatever  may  be  lost  in  historic  associa- 
tion is  gained  in  freedom  from  constraining  precedent, 
and  in  actual  establishment  of  a  contact  with  nature 
itself.  It  is  the  architecture  of  "the  simple  life." 

Nor  need  it  be  supposed  that  "Craftsman"  archi- 
tecture is  necessarily  a  thing  austere  and  ascetic.  The 
creed  is  framed  to  include,  necessarily,  all  furniture, 
rugs,  draperies  and  other  fitments  of  the  home,  as  well 
as  the  colour  scheme,  both  inside  and  out. 


200     THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

Subdued  colours  of  nature  are  specified  as  most 
expressive  of  perfect  and  reposeful  simplicity,  and  the 
element  of  the  primitive,  especially  in  textile  textures, 
is  considered  desirable.  Tones  are  plain — flat  wall  sur- 
faces, flat  stencil  decorations,  often  symbolic,  things  of 
beaten  copper  or  dull  faience — dull  values  of  browns, 
greens,  tans,  greys  and  blues.  Most  commendable  of 
all,  the  "Craftsman"  creed  includes  honesty  of  con- 
struction and  a  frank,  unashamed  expression  of  con- 
struction— a  tenet  inherited  direct  from  the  earlier 
crusade  of  William  Morris. 

A  part  of  the  ' '  Craftsman"  idea — coincident  with  it 
and  similarly  related  to  the  Morris  movement,  is  the 
"Mission"  scheme  of  architecture,  concerned  mostly 
with  interior  design.  The  "Mission  Style,"  so  far  as 
it  can  be  called  such,  originated  from  two  simple, 
"straight-line"  chairs,  rush-seated,  designed  by  a 
Pacific  Coast  architect  for  a  small  Californian  parish 
church.  In  that  the  Mission  idea  advocated  our  rejec- 
tion of  all  art  related  to  historic  "periods,"  its  aim  was 
identical  with  the  aim  of  the  "Craftsman"  idea,  while 
the  latter  exerted,  and  still  exerts,  a  widespread  in- 
fluence over  the  design  and  fashioning  of  textiles, 
ceramics,  jewelry  and  things  other  than  architecture 
and  furniture. 

Its  definite  place  in  the  mosaic  of  American  archi- 
tecture has  yet  to  be  won  by  the  l '  Craftsman ' '  style,  for 
it  is  a  current  style.  We  are  able  to  perceive  that  it 
has  been  accorded  wide  and  intelligent  appreciation, 
and  so  far  as  it  sincerely  lives  up  to  the  creed  upon 
which  it  is  founded,  it  is  not  only  "safe"  but  right  to 
accord  to  it  a  proper  amount  of  serious  appreciation. 

In  discussing  the  bungalow  as  seen  in  America,  there 
is  some  danger  of  discussing  a  thing  which  does  not 


NATIVE  AMERICAN  ARCHITECTURE         201 

actually  exist,  excepting  in  rare  instances.  The  real 
and  only  " bungalow"  is  the  one-story  dwelling  of  the 
Anglo-East  Indian,  and  since  this  type  is  peculiar  to 
India,  we  will,  perhaps,  do  well  to  forget  the  absent 
similarity  in  type  suggested  by  the  identity  in  name, 
and  look  at  the  American  bungalow  as  a  distinct  type, 
unlike  any  other  form  of  dwelling,  and  quite  often 
unlike  itself.  The  American  bungalow,  in  other  words, 
exists  in  many  varieties  of  small  cottage,  virtually  all 
of  which  are  unlike  the  type  from  which  we  take  the 
name.  Webster  defines  it:  "A  lightly  built,  usually 
thatched  or  tiled,  house  or  cottage  of  a  single  story, 
usually  surrounded  by  a  veranda" — a  definition  accu- 
rate enough  as  far  as  it  goes.  The  bungalow  of  to-day 
may  be  of  fieldstone,  of  hollow  tile  and  stucco,  of  all 
frame  construction,  or  even  of  brick,  and  its  roof  may 
be  of  Spanish  tile  or  of  shingles. 

If  one  is  invited  by  a  friend  to  visit  him  in  his 
"bungalow"  at  the  seaside,  one  has  little,  if  any,  defi- 
nite idea  of  what  manner  of  dwelling  he  may  see,  from 
a  "portable  house"  to  a  substantial  two-story  cottage. 
Often  a  low-sweeping  roof,  giving  a  low  appearance  to 
a  cottage,  will  cause  the  owner  to  describe  his  villa  as  a 
"bungalow."  Nearly  all  American  "bungalows"  are 
a  story  and  a  half  in  height — that  is,  a  full  story  on  the 
main  floor,  and  provision  by  means  of  dormer  windows, 
for  two  or  more  small  sleeping  rooms  under  the  roof. 

A  veranda  is  usually  a  prominent  feature  of  this  type 
of  dwelling,  and  since  it  is  not  a  bungalow  after  the 
Anglo-Indian  fashion,  or  a  cottage  of  the  English 
"  week-end  "  type,  it  would  seem  that  a  new  designa- 
tion were  needed.  "  Bungalow,"  however,  is  likely  to 
adhere,  and  may  do  as  well  as  anything,  despite  the 
flexibility,  and  usually  the  inaccuracy,  of  its  application. 


202     THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

The  bungalow  is  a  distinctly  popular  type  of  mod- 
erate and  low-cost  dwelling  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  where 
architects  have  developed  it  into  a  thoroughly  charming 
and  livable  affair,  and  it  is  essayed  to-day,  with  varying 
degrees  of  success,  in  nearly  every  part  of  the  country. 

The  bungalow  is  appreciated,  in  a  popular  way, 
more  extensively  than  it  is  understood,  and  if  architects 
and  prospective  builders  will  take  it  a  little  more  seri- 
ously, and  develop  it  into  a  miniature  all-year-round 
house  (a  role  it  very  frequently  fills  to-day),  there  may 
be  evolved  a  highly  desirable  and  essentially  American 
type  of  dwelling,  bearing  no  similarity  whatever  to  the 
tropical  affair  from  which  its  name  has  come,  nor  yet 
to  any  other  architectural  type  in  any  other  country. 

At  this  point,  having  presented  in  a  necessarily  brief 
form,  an  analytical  guide  to  those  architectural  styles 
and  types  which  possess  definite  form,  and  which  may 
be  subjected  to  definite  classification,  it  is  no  less  impor- 
tant to  direct  a  little  critical  attention  toward  certain 
phases  of  our  subject  which  might  be  called  "Architec- 
tural Addenda. " 

In  point  of  style,  comment  will  be  made  upon  that 
strange  movement  called  "L'Art  Nouveau,"  and  upon 
the  Secessionist  (now  "Modernist")  movement  of 
Austria  and  Germany. 

It  will  prove  interesting,  as  well,  to  direct  obser- 
vation toward  the  results  which  have  come  from  the 
application  of  certain  old  architectural  styles  to  new 
architectural  types — to  the  modern  city  house  and  shop 
front,  the  tall  office  building,  the  loft  building,  the  vast 
modern  American  hotel  and  railway  terminal.  In 
* '  many  inventions ' '  to  fulfil  new  and  unexpected  duties, 
the  art  of  Architecture  has  splendidly  lived  up  to  its 
destiny. 


CHAPTER  IX 

NEW  STYLES  APPLIED  TO  FAMILIAR  USES,  AND  OLD  STYLES 
APPLIED  TO  NEW  USES.  "  L'ART  NOUVEAU,"  THE  "  SECES- 
SIONISTS "  AND  "MODERNISTS."  THE  CITY  HOUSE,  THE 
OFFICE  BUILDING,  THE  LOFT  BUILDING,  THE  MODERN 
HOTEL,  THE  APARTMENT  HOUSE  AND  THE  GREAT  RAIL- 
ROAD TERMINAL 

NO  study  of  stylistic  expressions  in  architecture 
would  be  complete  without  some  acquaintance 
with  certain  schools  of  design  which  exist  outside  the 
pale  of  the  historic  periods.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this 
chapter,  therefore,  to  discuss  certain  "new"  styles, 
and  certain  new  applications  of  old  styles  which  have 
been  added  to  the  history  of  architectural  development 
in  modern  times. 

One  of  the  first  secessions  from  historic  precedent  in 
design  appeared  about  1896  in  the  form  of  a  movement 
which  was  known  as  "L'Art  Nouveau."  This  new  art, 
originating,  as  its  name  would  indicate,  in  France, 
threw  design  in  general  into  convulsions  which,  at  the 
time,  seemed  likely  to  entirely  transform  all  previous 
ideas  of  Classic  or  academic  design  in  architecture  and 
furniture.  L'Art  Nouveau,  furthermore,  assumed, 
temporarily,  an  absolute  dominance  of  feeling  in  the 
design  of  jewellry,  ceramics,  bookbinding  and  other 
crafts,  as  well  as  in  the  graphic  arts. 

The  style,  however,  could  not  last  beyond  the  first 
bloom  of  its  novelty,  because  it  was  illogical  and  basic- 
ally unsound.  It  sought  to  mould  form  to  accommo- 
date decoration,  instead  of  accommodating  decoration 
to  form.  In  two  respects,  it  was  a  highly  naturalistic 
sort  of  art,  employing  as  motifs  plant  forms,  and  render- 

203 


204  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

ing  these  in  a  naturalistic  manner.  "L'Art  Nouveau" 
was  a  style  of  flowing  and  sinuous  lines,  often  graceful, 
but  too  frequently  bizarre  and  ' '  forced, ' '  and  although 
naturalistic,  it  was  also  highly  artificial,  in  that  the 
natural  forms  employed  were  forced  into  illogical  uses. 

It  is  true  that  no  previous  school  of  design  had  pro- 
duced works  in  any  way  similar  to  the  creations  of  the 
"art  nouveau"  enthusiasts,  even  though  there  might 
be  traced  an  accidental  similarity  in  some  free  Gothic 
renderings  of  leaves  or  fruit.  The  style  reached  its 
height  in  France  and  found  its  most  ready  outside 
acceptance  in  Belgium,  being  too  ' '  French"  for  the  Ger- 
mans and  too  "emotional"  for  the  English.  It  was 
copied,  in  America,  solely  by  reason  of  its  novelty,  and 
without  any  understanding  whatever  of  the  intention 
of  its  French  creators. 

As  a  style,  "L'Art  Nouveau"  comes  to  us  to-day 
sometimes  as  a  sort  of  joke,  and  nearly  always  as  a  mis- 
guided and  ephemeral  fantasy.  This,  perhaps,  is  not 
altogether  fair,  because,  with  all  its  faults,  "L'Art 
Nouveau"  had  some  occasional  flashes  of  real  inspira- 
tion. If  it  had  done  nothing  more,  it  awakened  an 
appreciation  of  graceful  form,  and  of  the  inexhaustible 
possibilities  of  deriving  decorative  motifs  from  plant 
forms.  One  of  the  illustrations  shows  a  Parisian  shop 
front — the  style,  perhaps,  exemplified  at  its  best,  for 
of  all  buildings,  a  hat  shop,  or  a  candy  shop,  or  a  small 
theatre,  may  permissably  indulge  in  architectural  friv- 
olity. One  cannot  imagine  a  courthouse  or  a  post-office 
designed  along  "art  nouveau"  lines,  but  one  can  read- 
ily think  of  instances  in  which  the  style  might  be 
acceptable  and  pleasing.  To-day,  however,  it  is  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  a  "dead"  style,  excepting  in  the 
imprint  which  it  left  on  the  previously  Classic  archi- 


AN  ARCHITECTURAL  CONCEPTION 
CHARACTERISTIC  OF  THE  VIEN- 
NESE AND  GERMAN  SECESSIONISTS 
AND  MODERNISTS 

This  example  is  taken  from  a  drawing  by 
the  "Wiener  Werkstetten" 


AN  EXAMPLE  OF  THE   FRENCH   STYLE   CALLED   L' ART  NOUVEAU 
A  Parisian  shop  front  thoroughly  characteristic  of  the  style 


NEW  AND  OLD  STYLES  205 

tecture  of  the  Beaux  Arts.  For  it  was  from  the  brief 
but  intense  enthusiasm  over  the  "new  art"  that  French 
architects  received  the  idea  of  rendering  in  a  naturalis- 
tic vein  much  of  their  ornamental  detail,  as  well  as  their 
tendency  to  give  many  architectural  forms  a  certain 
sinuosity  and  often  a  certain  frivolity. 

As  early  as  1870  a  few  restless  Austrian  designers 
were  experimenting  in  strange  furniture  and  architec- 
ture dangerously  like  that  of  the  "art  nouveau." 
Gradually,  however,  their  efforts  began  to  take  a  defi- 
nite form,  and  in  the  late  '90 's  the  "Viennese  Seces- 
sion" became  an  actual  'school  of  design — the  forerun- 
ner of  the ' '  Modernist ' '  school  of  to-day.  The  secession- 
ists, as  their  name  would  imply,  rebelled  against  what 
they  regarded  as  the  slavish  copying  of  archaeological 
forms,  and  sought  new  means  of  expression.  Their  art, 
perhaps,  might  be  considered  to  some  extent  as  a  creed, 
or  a  declaration. 

While  it  was  a  creed  based  on  simplicity,  it  was  a 
weird  and  strange  kind  of  simplicity,  very  unlike  that 
of  William  Morris,  and  very  difficult  to  compare  with 
any  other  art  movement  of  any  other  land  or  period. 
The  secessionists  were  as  nearly  "original"  as  it  is 
possible  to  be,  and  their  works  suggest  but  remotely 
certain  elusive  elements  of  things  Japanese  and  Egyp- 
tian. Secessionist  architecture  is  a  very  different  kind 
from  "art  nouveau"  architecture;  in  the  first,  decora- 
tion is  regarded  as  an  accessory  to  design  as  a  whole, 
while  in  the  second,  the  whole  design  was  regarded 
(quite  illogically)  as  subordinate  to  its  decoration. 
Radical  as  much  secessionist  work  may  seem,  it  is,  in 
reality,  distinctly  conservative,  for  decoration  is  used 
both  sparingly  and  cleverly,  with  due  appreciation  of 
the  fact  that  its  value  is  most  emphatic  when  it  is  made 


206   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

an  incident  rather  than  an  end  in  itself.  Secessionist 
architecture  is  characterised  by  broad,  plain  wall  sur- 
faces, an  absence  of  mouldings  and  of  all  Classic  or 
historic  forms,  either  architectural  or  decorative,  and 
by  a  close  association  of  furniture,  fabrics  and  other 
accessories.  The  consistency  of  the  modern  Austrian 
and  German  secessionist  efforts  is  largely  due  to  the 
fact  that  one  designer  creates  not  only  the  house,  but  its 
furniture  and  its  entire  scheme  of  interior  decoration, 
as  well,  perhaps,  as  the  layout  of  the  gardens  sur- 
rounding it. 

Such  procedure  is  highly  desirable,  assuming  that 
the  designer  is  sufficiently  capable  and  versatile  to  carry 
out  the  entire  scheme — the  typical "  Secessionist"  villa, 
indeed,  could  hardly  be  achieved  in  any  other  way. 

As  in  the  case  of  any  "extreme"  or  radical  style, 
of  any  style  of  which  the  acceptance  amounts  to  a  creed, 
it  is  essential  that  one  believes  sincerely  in  it  as  such. 
The  acceptance  of  any  style  merely  because  it  is  a 
"fad,"  or  because  it  seems  to  be  "the  latest  thing," 
is  doubly  deplorable,  in  that  style  and  individual  are 
both  debased. 

The  Secessionist  movement  of  Austria  profoundly 
influenced  modern  architecture,  interior  decoration  and 
furniture  design  in  Germany,  producing  many  works  of 
significance  not  entirely  measurable  at  the  present  time. 

In  France,  the  Secessionist  movement  found  its 
expression  in  the  "Modernist"  school  of  architects  and 
decorators.  There  is  apparent  here  the  same  avoid- 
ance of  Classic  or  historic  forms,  the  same  effort  toward 
effecting  broad,  plain  wall  surfaces  and  strikingly 
"original"  forms.  The  French  Modernists,  in  addi- 
tion, have  given  a  strange  exotic  flavour  to  much  of  their 
work  by  the  introduction  of  certain  Oriental  devices, 


NEW  AND  OLD  STYLES  207 

especially  as  derived  from  Persian  architecture.  Many 
"Modernist"  costumes,  turban  head-dresses,  Oriental 
perfume  bottles  and  Persian  textile  motifs  bear  evi- 
dence of  this  interesting  influence. 

As  might  be  supposed,  America  saw  a  counterpart 
(on  a  small  scale,  however),  of  the  Secession,  and  is 
enjoying  to-day  many  reflected  scintillations  of  the 
French  ''Modernist"  movement,  also  on  a  small  scale. 
We  have  not,  as  yet,  an  American  * '  Modernist ' '  archi- 
tecture to  reckon  with,  though  we  have  a  good  bit  of 
11  Modernist"  interior  decoration  and  furniture. 

The  great  American  Secessionist  in  architecture  is 
Frank  Lloyd  Wright,  of  Chicago,  whose  work,  as  noted 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  preceding  chapter,  has  exten- 
sively influenced  many  contemporary  architects  of  the 
Middle  West.  The  exact  place  of  this  school  of  archi- 
tectural design  has  yet  to  be  determined,  and  its  real 
worth,  both  present  and  ultimate,  must  depend  entirely 
upon  the  sincerity  of  both  architect  and  client. 

There  is  much  in  the  best  of  the  American  Secession- 
ist architecture  which  is  pleasing  and  refreshing,  while 
ill-studied  examples  show  much  which  is  too  strange 
and  "forced"  to  possess  valid  reason  for  existence. 
Design  which  is  by  way  of  being  a  departure  from  aca- 
demic precedent,  or  the  guidance  of  historic  forms,  is 
work  for  the  master  designer.  No  amateur  should  ven- 
ture to  attempt  it,  and  no  mere  copy  of  work  which  has 
resulted  from  another's  sincere  conviction  or  personal 
ingenuity  can  ever  possess  a  recognisable  degree  of 
merit  or  permanency. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  certain  current  architectural 
manifestations  in  America  wherein  old  historic  styles 
have  been  used  as  media  of  design  for  distinctly  new 
types  of  building,  and  determine,  if  possible,  how  well 


208    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

this  has  been  done,  and  with  what  degree  of  stylistic 
propriety. 

We  have,  in  the  larger  American  cities,  certain 
highly  specialised  architectural  problems,  of  which  it 
may  be  germane  here  to  present  a  few  remarks  on  the 
modern  city  house,  the  tall  office  building  (once  called 
the  "skyscraper"),  the  loft  building,  the  gigantic 
modern  hotel,  the  apartment  house,  and  the  great  mod- 
ern railroad  terminal. 

The  metropolitan  city  house,  at  the  outset,  presents 
a  variety  of  problems  to  the  architect,  many  of  which 
are  not  strictly  architectural.  He  is  doubly  hedged 
about  with  the  natural  limitations  of  the  site,  and  with 
the  multitudinous  "restrictions  "  of  city  building  codes. 

The  "architecture"  of  the  exterior,  indeed,  is  fin- 
ished when  the  design  of  the  street  facade  is  finished, 
and  the  interiors  of  the  rooms  within  may  be  carried 
out  in  any  range  of  "period"  styles  dictated  by  the 
whim  of  the  client.  An  interior  decorator,  indeed,  may 
be  called  in  here  to  work  with  the  architect,  or  to  exe- 
cute certain  rooms  independently. 

Of  the  working  relationship  of  architect  and  decora- 
tor, and  the  clients'  responsibility  in  this  connection, 
more  will  be  said  in  the  second  part  of  this  book. 

The  trend  of  architectural  development  in  most  of 
the  larger  cities  would  seem  to  dictate  certain  styles  as 
more  appropriate  and  in  better  taste  than  others. 
There  are  strong  recommendations,  for  example, 
toward  designing  the  facade  in  a  modified  Italian 
Renaissance  vein,  a  modified  Modern  French,  or  a 
direct  Louis  XVI  style,  or  in  the  manner  called  the 
"Harvard"  type,  of  brick,  with  white  stone  trim  and 
occasional  ironwork.  Surprisingly  little  use  has  been 
made  of  the  Holland  Dutch  type,  of  which  a  remark- 


Photograph  by  Tli.  van  den  Hcnvel  Little  A  O'Connor,  Architects 

THE  EARLY  CITY  ARCHITECTURE  OF  THE  "LOW   COUNTRIES" 

Houses  on  the  Rue  Flamande,  Bruges,  typical 
of  the  city  architecture  of  both  Holland  and 
Belgium 


F  THE  "LOW  COUNTRIES" 

An  American  adaptation  of  the  early  city 
architecture  of  the  "Low  Countries."  This 
house,  in  New  York  City,  is  of  brick,  with 
decorative  details  in  brightly  coloured  faience. 
The  stepped  gable  is  characteristic 


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NEW  AND  OLD  STYLES  209 

ably  able  rendering  is  seen  in  one  of  the  illustrations, 
showing  a  New  York  City  residence.  Fire-laws  have 
excluded  the  picturesque  half -timber  city  fagade  which 
lends  so  much  charm  to  Chester,  in  England,  and  to 
many  old  Flemish,  French  and  German  streets.  It  is 
true  that  a  half-timber  "effect"  could  be  obtained  by 
an  ingenious  use  (or  misuse)  of  fire-proof  materials, 
but  the  result  would  be  palpably  artificial,  and  conse- 
quently undesirable.  At  one  time  city  houses  were 
popularly  designed  in  a  Romanesque  manner,  in 
various  strange  attempts  contemporaneously  called 
''Gothic,"  and  in  more  successful  adaptations  of  the 
French  Gothic-Renaissance  transitional  style  of 
Francis  First.  We  will  not  speak  of  the  entirely 
odious  "brownstone  front,"  now  mercifully  disappear- 
ing in  rows  under  the  hands  of  wreckers — it  was  an 
entirely  base  copy  (if  it  could  even  be  called  a  copy) 
of  an  entirely  debased  kind  of  bourgeois  poor  taste 
which  existed  in  France  in  the  early  '80  's,  and  a  repe- 
tition of  its  like,  on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic,  is 
fortunately  impossible  to-day,  or  even  in  the  future. 

In  its  actual  planning,  as  a  complete  organism,  the 
modern  city  house  is  a  complex  affair,  and  an  architec- 
tural problem  calling  for  the  highest  order  of  ability 
and  ingenuity  on  the  part  of  the  architect.  Rooms 
must  be  provided  as  adequately  as  the  restricted  site 
will  allow,  with  light  and  ventilation,  servants'  quar- 
ters and  kitchen  skilfully  incorporated,  a  service  en- 
trance devised,  and  a  number  of  such  convenient 
innovations  as  self-operated  elevators,  dumb-waiters, 
laundry  chutes  and,  of  course,  the  plumbing  and  heating 
systems. 

With  all  these  details,  only  in  part  suggested  here, 
the  architect  is  now  called  upon  to  effect,  as  well,  some 

14 


210  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

sense  of  "spaciousness" — perhaps  in  a  city  house 
occupying  a  twenty-five  foot  lot.  The  greatest  evolu- 
tion in  city  house  planning  took  place  with  the  abolish- 
ment of  the  high  entrance  " stoop"  and  the  narrow  hall 
within.  The  basement  entrance  plan,  with  the  front 
wall  of  the  house  on  or  near  the  building  line,  enabled 
the  architect  to  design  something  in  the  nature  of  a 
foyer  or  lobby,  sometimes  of  an  almost  monumental  or 
imposing  nature,  and  occupying  the  whole  width  of  the 
lot.  Some  architects,  too,  by  ingenious  economy  of 
space  in  other  parts  of  the  house,  have  designed  great 
two-story  living-rooms  or  salons,  of  considerable 
length,  and  as  wide  as  the  lot  (exclusive  of  the  party- 
wall  thickness) — a  device  most  desirable  in  the  neces- 
sarily cramped  and  "shut-in"  confines  of  the  usual  city 
dwelling. 

Much  yet  remains  in  the  evolution  of  the  city  house — 
especially  in  connection  with  the  architectural  reclama- 
tion of  back-yards,  roofs,  and  low-extensions.  There 
are  unrealised  possibilities,  too;  in  the  introductions  of 
patios  or  small  garden  court-yards,  either  at  the  ground 
level,  or  sunk  in  the  roof.  The  "solarium"  or  sun- 
parlor  has  added  an  attractive  retreat  off  the  dining- 
room  of  many  a  city  house  of  recent  design,  but  more 
still  remains  to  be  done  to  create,  even  under  architec- 
turally unfavourable  conditions,  more  livable  and 
attractive  urban  dwellings. 

One  speaks,  here,  not  of  the  city  mansion,  which 
is  an  opportunity  rather  than  a  problem,  but  of  the 
average  and  even  the  small  city  house,  for  of  these  are 
most  of  our  residential  streets  made  up. 

The  problem  of  designing  the  tall  office  building 
has  been  variously  met,  and  often  with  conspicuous 
success.  From  the  point  of  view  of  design,  there  is 


NEW  AND  OLD  STYLES  211 

required  a  seemly  and  well-considered  architectural 
casing,  or  disguise,  for  a  steel  frame,  the  whole  pre- 
senting a  maximum  of  voids,  or  window  openings,  to  a 
minimum  of  solids  or  wall  surfaces. 

The  skilful  manner  in  which  the  great  Woolworth 
building  was  treated  forms  the  subject  of  a  carefully 
detailed  discussion  in  the  fifth  chapter.  Obviously  no 
historic  precedent  can  be  followed  in  the  treatment  of 
a  building  of  size  more  vast  than  the  greatest  European 
cathedral.  Historic  styles  have  been  used  as  motifs 
rather  than  models,  so  that  we  have  the  Metropolitan 
Tower,  in  New  York  City,  done  in  the  guise  of  an 
Italian  Renaissance  campanile,  enormously  magnified, 
or  we  see  an  Italian  arcade  or  a  Classic  Colonnade 
crowning  a  building  so  tall  that  one  can  scarce  discern 
the  order  of  the  columns. 

In  most  tall  office  buildings,  architectural  effort  in 
design  is  usually  confined  to  the  first  few  stories  above 
the  street  level,  and  to  the  upper  two  or  three  stories 
which  crown  the  building.  The  intervening  mass  of 
wall,  perforated  by  countless  windows,  is  usually  of 
uniform  design,  which  is  an  expedient  both  logical  and 
desirable.  If  architectural  detail,  or  "interest,"  were 
spread  evenly  over  the  vast  bulk  of  such  a  colossal 
building  as  the  Equitable  Insurance  Building,  in  New 
York  City,  the  effect  would  be  both  optically  and  men- 
tally distressing.  The  building  would  seem  '  *  restless '  * 
because  the  eye  would  fail  to  focus  itself  naturally  at 
any  level,  and  many  important  values  of  dignity,  and  of 
something  almost  approaching  sublimity  (apparent  in 
some  of  the  larger  commercial  buildings),  would  be  lost. 
It  is  natural  that  many  liberties  must  be  taken  with 
historic  styles  to  fit  them  agreeably  and  urbanely  to 
such  a  structure  as  the  modern  office  building  and  a 


212    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

high  average  of  merit  has  been  struck  through  the 
ingenuity  and  adaptability  which  American  architects 
have  shown  in  their  designs  for  this  essentially  Ameri- 
can type  of  building. 

Even  the  lay  observer  should  not  fail  to  appreciate 
what  it  means  -to  design  a  cornice,  for  example,  or  a 
colonnade  in  scale  to  be  seen  elevated  forty  or  fifty 
stories  in  the  air.  The  architect  can  contrive  this 
detail  only  on  paper  and  in  his  head.  It  may  look  very 
different  in  its  execution  and  placement  at  a  great  eleva- 
tion, and  if  we  stop  to  consider  the  exacting  and  really 
tremendous  nature  of  the  problem,  we  must  come  to 
realise  that  an  architect  deserves  more  credit  for  the 
successful  design  of  a  tall  building  than  for  the  success- 
ful design  of  a  beautiful  country  house.  The  country 
house,  perhaps,  could  not  be  more  agreeable  to  look 
upon,  while  the  great  office  building,  if  only  by  reason 
of  its  bulk,  could  easily  have  been  a  vast  and  grievous 
architectural  affliction,  and  is  not,  even  at  its  best,  so 
humanly  appealing  as  the  country  house. 

Another  modern  American  architectural  problem, 
in  some  respects  a  problem  more  exacting  than  the  tall 
office  building,  exists  in  the  "loft  building."  Here  is 
a  structure  intended  for  purposes  entirely  utilitarian, 
a  city  building  perhaps  twenty  stories  in  height,  de- 
signed to  house  on  each  floor  some  manufacturing 
industry  or  some  commercial  organisation.  Two  fac- 
tors have  militated  against  the  attainment  of  a  high 
degree  of  architectural  merit  in  the  loft  building — 
speedy  erection  and  economy  in  expenditure — yet  the 
architect  has  often  produced  an  edifice  by  no  means 
despicable,  or  to  be  dismissed  as  unworthy  of  the  atten- 
tion of  the  architectural  observer.  The  loft  building 
cannot  be  made  a  thing  of  beauty,  but  good  design, 


=3=233 c=S=========== 


re,  Arthitect.- 

THE  HOTEL  VANDERBILT,  NEW  YORK 

A  typical  hotel  building  of  the  modern  American  type — a  gigantic  fire-proof  struct- 
ure equipped  with  every  practical  convenience,  and  detailed  and  furnished  in  the 
Eighteenth  Century  English  style  of  the  Brothers  Adam 


NEW  AND  OLD  STYLES  213 

within  the  inevitable  limitations  presented,  may  keep  it 
from  being  a  thing  of  absolute  banality.  Unlike  the 
tall  office  building,  the  loft  building  is  one  of  many  on 
a  street,  and  may  be  lighted  only  from  front  and  rear, 
with  possible  additional  light  from  a  shaft  designed  to 
the  purpose.  Consequently,  any  architectural  "char- 
acter"  which  is  attempted  in  the  design  can  be  apparent 
only  in  the  front  elevation,  or  street  fagade.  Usually 
the  entrance  to  the  building  and  its  crowning  story 
are  architecturally  treated,  the  intervening  stories 
being  entirely  given  over  to  necessary  window  space. 
If  no  adjacent  buildings  of  comparable  height  exist,  the 
loft  building  perforce  must  rear  two  great  blank  side 
walls,  towering  far  above  the  rows  of  three-  and  four- 
story  buildings  below  it.  Ordinarily  these  blank  walls 
remain  for  years,  adorned  only  with  large  painted  signs 
proclaiming  the  names  and  businesses  of  the  tenants  of 
the  several  floors,  though  in  many  notable  instances  the 
architect  has  made  this  vast  wall  surface  strangely 
interesting  by  devising  upon  it  titanic  designs  formed 
by  the  use  of  two  different-coloured  bricks.  In  a  few 
years  a  loft  building  of  equal  height  may  occupy  both 
sites  adjoining,  but  in  the  interval  previous  to  their 
erection,  these  gigantic  brick  patterns  loom  up  as  an 
interesting  and  commendable  expedient. 

No  visitor  to  a  large  American  city,  especially  a 
visitor  to  New  York,  could  fail  to  be  impressed  by  the 
modern  hotel  edifices,  even  though  their  towering 
structures  may  fail,  through  familiarity  or  feigned 
indifference,  to  impress  the  metropolitan  individual 
who  passes  daily  under  their  great  shadows,  or  eats 
frequently  in  their  gilded  dining-rooms. 

The  modern  American  hotel,  besides  being  a  mar- 
vellous organism  as  a  hotel,  presents  several  unusually 


214  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

interesting  angles  for  amateur  architectural  study,  both 
inside  and  out. 

As  an  organism,  indeed  a  microcosm,  we  see  con- 
joined under  one  vast  roof  a  combination  of  devices 
human,  mechanical  and  aesthetic,  all  planned  to  effect 
pleasure  and  comfort  to  the  guest.  Since  the  present 
consideration  must  deal  entirely  with  the  architectural 
aspect  of  the  great  metropolitan  hotel,  we  must  per- 
force dismiss  its  many  other  interesting  features. 

American  hotel  architecture  emerged  from  absolute 
banality  at  about  the  time  of  the  general  architectural 
awakening  of  the  country,  and  after  the  erection  of  the 
Waldorf  in  New  York  City,  the  prevalent  "hotel  style" 
followed  suit,  taking  the  form  of  a  composite  adaptation 
of  the  French  styles  of  Louis  XIV,  Louis  XV  and 
Louis  XVI.  Structures  were  reared  more  enormous  in 
bulk  than  the  greatest  French  palaces  or  chateaux,  and 
hotel  interiors  were  made  magnificent  and  sumptuous 
to  a  superlative  degree  by  the  use  of  ornamental  mar- 
bles, mirrors  and  gilt. 

The  adaptation  of  this  "magnificent"  style  for  the 
large  hotel  has  been  severely  but  not  intelligently  criti- 
cised by  many,  on  the  ground  that  it  is  vulgar  and 
ostentatious.  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that 
the  large  city  hotel  is  a  building  with  a  definite  inten- 
tion— it  is  intended  to  attract,  impress  and,  if  possible, 
flatter  the  travelling  public.  It  cannot  be  denied  that 
regal  French  architecture  attracts  and  speaks  in  a 
universal  language  to  all  beholders,  symbolising  opu- 
lence, richness  and  a  certain  kind  of  social  distinction. 
It  has  a  splendid  self-assurance,  even  if  it  may  be  said 
to  lack  repose.  And  for  these  same  reasons  it  is  im- 
pressive. Hotel  managers  were  quick  to  appreciate  the 
fact  that  architecture  is  one  of  the  most  theatrical  of 


NEW  AND  OLD  STYLES  215 

the  arts — that  a  certain  impression  may  be  more  readily 
received,  even  though  unconsciously,  by  a  greater  num- 
ber of  people  through  the  architectural  guise  of  the 
building  than  through  any  other  means.  Thus,  the 
great  marble  lobbies,  the  gilded  dining-rooms,  the  vistas 
of  mirrors  and  palms  in  the  modern  hotel  are  but  theat- 
rical scenery,  devised  by  the  manager  to  make  his 
venture  a  success,  and  the  people  eating,  promenading 
or  dancing  in  this  intentionally  gorgeous  environment 
are  the  unconscious  actors. 

To  eat  in  a  richly  decorated  Louis  XIV  dining-room, 
although  one  may  care  not  at  all  for  the  style  in  itself, 
is  to  receive  unconsciously  some  small  reflex  sensation 
of  "the  grand  manner."  Call  the  feeling  by  whatever 
other  name  he  will,  the  average  person  is  flattered  by 
the  environment — he  treads  in  the  footsteps  of  great 
shadowy  royal  personages  and  courtiers  of  the  past, 
and  cannot  escape  a  distinct  impression  of  elation  or 
gratification. 

For  these  reasons,  which  are  psychological  rather 
than  architectural,  these  French  styles  which  were 
elected  to  make  up  an  elaborate  composite  which  might 
be  called  ' '  hotel  architecture, ' '  are  to  be  regarded  as  an 
excellent  choice  for  their  purpose.  Hotel  architecture, 
to  be  sure,  is  superficial,  yet  this  is  natural  when  it  is 
considered  that  its  appeal  must  be  instantaneous,  and 
keyed  to  attract  and  please  a  great  variety  of  people, 
averaging  a  not  very  high  degree  of  architectural 
discrimination. 

Further  evidence  of  the  desire  to  please  on  the  part 
of  the  hotel  management  is  to  be  seen  in  the  diversity 
of  styles  often  found  in  the  interior  decoration  of  a 
single  hotel,  as  well  as  in  the  "special"  rooms  which 
are  constantly  offered  to  meet  the  continuous  public 


216    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

demand  for  " novelty."  One  will  find  a  Louis  XIV 
dining-room,  a  ' '  Marie  Antoinette ' '  tea-room,  a  ball- 
room resplendent  in  Louis  XV  rococo,  and  an  ''Old 
Nuremberg  "  rathskeller,  or  grill-room  downstairs. 
Greater  diversity  may  be  offered  in  the  form  of  an 
"  Egyptian  Room"  or  a  "  Pompeian  Room" — yet  the 
charge  of  "  inconsistency"  must  fall  flat  when  it  is 
remembered  that  these  things  are  devised  to  entertain, 
just  as  a  varied  musical  program  is  devised  to  enter- 
tain. Very  often  these  special  rooms  have  been  carried 
out  with  the  highest  degree  of  architectural  ingenuity, 
and,  taken  separately  for  what  they  are  worth,  may 
offer  much  interesting  study  to  the  lay  observer,  if  he 
will  look  about  him  between  the  dinner  courses. 

A  great  many  vast  hotels,  not  only  in  New  York,  but 
in  Philadelphia,  Chicago  and  other  cities,  were  designed 
mainly  in  French  styles,  until  a  new  element  entered 
the  field  of  hotel  design.  And,  to  instance  forcibly  the 
ever-present  close  relation  between  architecture  and 
human  thought,  this  element  came  in  as  a  reaction 
against  the  prevalence  of  the  hotel  ideal  of  "magnifi- 
cence." There  was  substituted  a  new  ideal  for  hotel 
architecture — an  ideal  of  restraint,  combined  with  an 
expression  of  that  refined  correctness  which  the  English 
call  "smartness." 

Architecturally,  the  great  hotels  of  the  French  type 
had  achieved  prodigies  of  design.  Such  hotels  as  the 
Plaza,  in  New  York,  and  the  Bellevue-Stratford,  in 
Philadelphia,  reared  vastly  magnified  chateau  roofs 
high  above  all  surrounding  buildings.  Again,  as  in  the 
tall  office  structure,  historic  styles  were  used  as  motifs 
rather  than  models.  The  architect  endeavoured  to 
approach  his  problem  as  it  would  have  been  approached 


NEW  AND  OLD  STYLES  217 

by  the  Eighteenth  Century  French  architect,  had  he 
been  required  to  design  a  similar  structure. 

For  the  architectural  expression  of  restraint  in  hotel 
design,  however,  a  remarkable  choice  of  style  was 
made,  and  the  firm  of  Warren  and  Wetmore  achieved 
a  brilliant  success  in  their  adaptation.  Previously  to 
the  erection  of  the  hotels  Ritz-Carlton  and  Vanderbilt 
in  New  York  City  (the  first  of  the  new  type),  it  would 
have  been  difficult  for  us  to  conceive  of  the  delicate, 
minute  Eighteenth  Century  English  style  of  the 
'Brothers  Adam  applied  to  an  enormous  hotel  edifice. 
The  Adams  for  the  most  part  were  designers  of  furni- 
ture and  of  chaste  interiors — they  were  not  distin- 
guished as  the  authors  of  large  projects. 

It  was  desired,  however,  in  the  newest  hotels,  to 
carry  out  Adam  interiors.  A  revival  of  Adam  furni- 
ture and  decorations  had  become  the  fashionable  vogue, 
and  it  was  surmised  that  hotel  interiors  in  the  Adam 
style  would  be  immensely  popular.  The  conflict  be- 
tween the  classic  dignity  of  the  Adam  style  within, 
and  the  diversified  French  type  of  hotel  without,  could 
not  be  thought  of,  so  a  seeming  architectural  impossi- 
bility was  essayed — an  adaptation  of  the  Adam  style  to 
the  exterior  design  of  buildings  more  vast  in  their 
proportions  than  all  the  four  brothers  together  could 
have  conceived. 

That  this  remarkable  tour  de  force  was  successfully 
achieved  is  evidenced  in  the  great  Hotel  Vanderbilt  in 
New  York  City,  a  brilliant  example  of  adapted  archi- 
tectural style.  The  exterior,  in  brick  of ' '  Adam  grey, ' ' 
trimmed  with  cream-coloured  terra-cotta  details,  is  an 
admirable  introduction  to  the  quiet  interiors  within— 
but  few  of  the  many  who  daily  enjoy  themselves  in  this 
great  New  York  hotel  stop  to  reflect  that  it  is  a  remark- 


218    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

able  architectural  achievement,  studied  as  an  adapta- 
tion of  an  historic  style  for  the  rendering  of  an  essen- 
tially modern  type  of  building.  Some  other  large 
hotels  have  been  designed  in  free  adaptations  of  Ital- 
ian Renaissance  architecture,  while  within,  the  visitor 
may  study  modern  American  versions  of  many  other 
styles  of  various  periods  and  various  lands. 

In  few  other  types  of  building  have  architects  drawn 
diverse  inspiration  with  such  spontaneity  or  freedom 
as  in  the  modern  hotel,  and  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  sup- 
pose that  these  remarkable  edifices  are  of  a  nature  too 
" superficial"  to  afford  a  volume  of  peculiarly  interest- 
ing material  for  study. 

A  distinctly  modern  and  distinctly  American  type 
of  building  is  the  large  apartment  house — and  here  may 
be  said  to  exist  an  architectural  opportunity  by  no 
means  fully  realised  to  date.  There  have  been  some 
admirably  designed  apartment  houses,  it  is  true,  but 
by  far  the  greater  number  suffer  from  commercialism, 
both  inside  and  out.  There  has  been  an  unfortunate 
tendency,  still  prevalent,  to  concentrate  a  great  deal  of 
the  expenditure  and  architectural  effort  in  effecting  an 
imposing  entrance  and  an  impressive  hallway,  these 
features  carried  out  with  an  air  of  opulence  and  even 
magnificence  which  give  a  false  impression  of  the  actual 
building  itself.  This  effort  to  create  a  fine  impression 
at  first  sight  is  obviously  nothing  more  than  a  lure  for 
new  tenants  and  an  excuse  for  maintaining  high  rentals, 
when  the  actual  apartments  themselves  are  meanly 
planned  and  poorly  built.  The  apartment  house  has 
suffered  much  from  this  palpable  deceit  and  it  is  rather 
surprising  that  even  the  average  prospective  tenant 
will  not  look  more  closely  at  the  quality  of  the  floors  in 
the  suite  of  rooms  he  is  to  rent,  or  at  the  carpentry 


NEW  AND  OLD  STYLES  219 

of  the  woodwork  and  disregard  as  immaterial  the  pre- 
tentious display  of  marble,  plate-glass  and  gilded 
plasterwork  in  the  downstairs  hall. 

Despite  its  many  architectural  drawbacks,  however, 
the  apartment  house  has  improved  considerably  in 
recent  years.  There  are  better  plans,  more  practical 
conveniences  and  far  better  design  in  such  details  as 
mantel-pieces,  wainscotings  and  the  like,  even  in  the 
apartment  of  moderate  rental. 

Eeal  architectural  ability  is  apparent  in  the  design 
of  some  of  the  great  apartment  houses  of  high  rental,  as 
well  as  in  many  which  are  co-operatively  owned  by  the 
tenants.  A  promising  departure  was  marked  by  the 
11  duplex"  apartment,  in  which  a  sense  of  spaciousness 
was  effected  by  devising  for  each  apartment  a  large 
two-story  living  room,  like  a  studio.  The  other  rooms 
of  the  apartment,  instead  of  being  inconveniently 
arranged  on  one  floor,  are  disposed  on  two  floors,  with 
private  connecting  stairway,  so  that  each  duplex  unit 
is,  in  fact,  a  miniature  house  in  itself. 

The  study  of  the  apartment  house  problem  and  its 
many  different  solutions  might  well  form  the  subject  of 
exhaustive  consideration,  but  no  more  can  be  done 
here  than  to  suggest  the  great  benefits  which  might 
result  from  a  greater  prevalence  of  co-operative  build- 
ing, and  to  remind  both  landlords  and  speculative 
builders  that  the  alluring  front  door  to  the  apartment 
house  is  becoming  constantly  of  less  significance.  A 
handsome  entrance  is  very  well  if  it  is  a  true  indication 
of  the  architectural  quality  of  the  entire  building,  but 
if  it  is  nothing  more  than  a  lure,  it  is  a  poor  investment. 
It  may  attract  new  tenants — especially  the  young  and 
inexperienced,  but  it  will  not  cause  them  to  renew  their 


220  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

leases  if  the  actual  rooms  in  which  they  live  are  incon- 
veniently planned  and  meanly  built. 

In  building  an  apartment  house,  which  from  its 
nature,  must  be  a  profitable  investment,  cheap  plans 
will  be  found  a  poor  economy.  Hotel  managers  realise 
that  their  building,  above  all  else,  must  please  the 
public,  and  they  go  to  architects  of  recognised  high 
ability.  In  any  type  of  building  designed  to  rent,  archi- 
tectural appeal  and  architectural  merit  should  be  prac- 
tical considerations  of  great  importance.  Of  the  ' '  real 
estate  development ' '  more  will  be  said  in  a  subsequent 
chapter. 

Among  architectural  types  which  are  essentially 
modern,  the  great  railroad  terminal  is  a  peculiarly 
interesting  one,  and  has  been  a  problem  to  which  Ameri- 
can architects  have  devoted  considerable  study. 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  similar  building  in  any  country 
possesses  the  architectural  significance  of  the  terminal 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Eailroad  in  New  York  City.  The 
stately  colonnade,  the  vast  interiors,  achieve  a  quality 
of  nobility  in  architectural  conception  which  ranks  with 
the  greatest  masterpieces  of  European  architecture. 
Architecture  here  fills  a  dual  function,  in  a  building 
laid  out  in  such  colossal  proportions  that  passenger 
congestion  is  impossible,  while  its  splendid  magnitude 
impresses  every  traveller  with  a  sense  of  the  prestige 
and  the  grand  scale  of  the  railroad  to  which  he  is 
entrusting  himself.  A  building  of  this  character  is 
a  long  departure  from  the  dingy  and  oppressive  ''train 
shed"  of  earlier  times.  A  building  of  the  character  of 
the  Pennsylvania  terminal  is  more  than  a  building — it 
is  a  symbol,  perhaps  as  much  a  monument,  in  this 
respect,  as  the  Pyramids  of  Egypt. 

The  New  York  City  terminal  of  the  Grand  Central 


,/••„-'- 
_•••• 

McKiui,  Mend  A  \\liiit-,  AivlntiTt-  Photograph  copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood 

CLASSIC  ROMAN"  DERIVATION  IN  A  MODERN  AMERICAN  RAILWAY  TERMINAL 

An  exceptional  example  of  an  architectural  expression  of  dignity 

(The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Terminal  Station,  New  York  City) 


Warren  *  Wetniore.  Architects  Photograph  copyright  l>y  Underwood  A  Underwood 

FRENCH  BEAUX-ARTS  INFLUENCE  IN  A  MODERN  AMERICAN  RAILROAD 

TERMINAL 

This  facade  affords  material  for  a  comparison  of  the  respective  architectural  expressiveness  of 

the  modern  French  school  of  design  as  opposed  to  the  strict  Classic  school  of  design 

(The  Grand  Central  Railroad  Terminal  Station,  New  York  City) 


NEW  AND  OLD  STYLES  221 

railroad  is  interesting  from  other  viewpoints — as  an 
example  of  the  modern  unity  of  architecture  with  com- 
plex problems  of  engineering. 

The  fagade  of  this  great  station  proclaims  at  once 
the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts — a  symmetrical  composition, 
Classic  yet  not  Classic,  and  embellished  with  detail 
which  is  entirely  French.  Characteristic  of  suchmodern 
French  architecture  is  the  marked  disregard  for  care- 
ful proportions,  shown  in  the  greatly  out-of-scale  alle- 
gorical figures  over  the  central  broken  pediment.  This 
alone  would  destroy  the  dignity  of  the  whole — an  excel- 
lent comparison,  indeed,  being  afforded  in  a  study  of 
this  Grand  Central  terminal  and  the  Pennsylvania  ter- 
minal— Beaux  Arts  freedom  versus  Classic  restraint. 
Both  are  symmetrical  fagades,  both  are  buildings  de- 
signed for  the  same  purpose,  yet  their  respective  archi- 
tectural manners  make  them  buildings  of  widely 
divergent  character. 

The  most  interesting  aspect  of  the  Grand  Central 
terminal  is  the  complexity  of  its  planning,  necessitated 
by  the  fact  that  it  is  entered  by  the  tracks  of  two  very 
busy  railroads,  as  well  as  by  the  Interborough  Subway. 
There  are,  consequently,  several  different  track-levels, 
with  their  several  concourses,  waiting-rooms  and  ticket 
offices.  As  a  practical  consideration  the  architects  pro- 
vided that  clearly  readable  legends  be  lettered  at  every 
point  where  the  traveller  might  need  direction,  while 
further  confusion  is  saved  by  the  introduction,  wher- 
ever possible,  of  ramps  instead  of  stairways.  On  a 
ramp,  which  is  a  long,  gently  sloping  runway,  or  plat- 
form, a  crowd  can  move  far  more  quickly  than  on  a 
stairway,  and  it  is  possible,  also,  to  run  for  a  train 
up  or  down  a  ramp.  It  is  probable  that  ramps  will 
take  the  place  of  stairways  in  many  of  the  public  build- 


222   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

ings  of  the  future — in  buildings  of  which  even  such 
remarkable  structures  as  these  two  great  railroad  ter- 
minals are  but  forerunners. 

We  live  in  an  age  of ' '  many  inventions ' ' — new  struc- 
tural devices  and  systems  appear  yearly  and  make  pos- 
sible the  erection  of  buildings  which  were  unthought  of 
in  the  past.  Obviously  no  one  but  an  architect  may  be 
familiar  with  these  technical  innovations,  but  the  lay 
observer  who  has  become  acquainted  with  architectural 
styles,  together  with  some  elemental  principles  of 
design,  cannot  but  find  much  to  interest  him  in  the  new 
architectural  achievements  which  yearly  add  credit  to 
the  profession  in  America. 


PART  II 

A  PRACTICAL  GUIDE  TO  BUILDING 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  SELECTION  OF  LOCATION,  STYLE,  MATE- 
EIAL  AND  ARCHITECT 

STYLE  FROM  VIEWPOINTS  OF  RELATION  TO  SITE,  MATERIAL, 
GENERAL  APPROPRIATENESS,  ETC.  LOCAL  MATERIALS 
AND  LOCAL  COLOUR  CONDITIONS.  FORESIGHT  AND 
ADVICE.  CHOOSING  AN  ARCHITECT 

IN  connection  with  building,  more,  perhaps,  than 
in  any  other  connection,  is  there  deep  significance 
in  the  familiarly  trite  saying:  "A  little  knowledge  is 
a  dangerous  thing. "  To  be  accurate,  indeed,  the  ill- 
arranged  ideas  of  most  prospective  builders  cannot 
even  be  regarded  as  ' '  knowledge. ' '  If  they  knew,  much 
disappointment  might  be  saved — it  is  rather  that  they 
think  they  know  either  enough  to  build  without  any 
architect,  or  to  set  themselves  above  the  architect  they 
actually  engage  to  do  the  work.  "A  little  knowledge" 
is  dangerous  because  it  is  usually  ignorance  in  disguise, 
and  ignorance  which  will  not  be  helped.  Complete  and 
honest  ignorance  frankly  calls  in  the  aid  of  the  profes- 
sional man. 

It  is  the  aim  and  intention  of  the  following  chapters 
to  point  out,  in  a  building  project,  in  what  respects 
individual  discretion  may  be  employed  to  advantage, 
and  in  what  respects  professional  opinion  had  best  be 
followed.  Certain  things  are  matters  of  opinion, 
others  are  matters  of  fact.  Even  in  the  first  group  the 
architect's  opinion  is  usually  to  be  regarded  as  better 
based  than  an  uniformed  lay  opinion,  while  in  the  sec- 
ond group,  the  absolute  futility  of  argument  should  be 
apparent. 

15  225 


226    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

The  points  taken  up  in  the  following  chapters  will 
be  arranged  in  the  sequence  dictated  by  the  usual 
procedure  in  building  a  house,  and  each  step  will  be 
dealt  with  in  a  practical  manner.  The  practising  archi- 
tect is  distressed  to  find  that  much  of  the  so-called 
''advice"  to  persons  about  to  build  is  arbitrary,  erro- 
neous or  misleading,  so  that  he  is  obliged  to  devote 
considerable  effort  and  time  toward  disillusioning  his 
client  and  establishing  a  ground  of  common  sense  and 
clear  vision.  Of  this,  more  will  be  said  in  subsequent 
observations  on  the  relation  of  architect  and  client. 

The  usual  private  building  operation  does  not  call 
in  the  architect  until  certain  very  important  things  have 
been  decided.  The  site  of  the  house,  for  instance,  is 
often  pre-determined  by  the  ownership  of  a  piece  of 
land.  The  architect  might  well  be  called  in  to  suggest 
the  best  architectural  location  for  the  house,  but  very 
frequently  he  is  not  consulted  on  this  question,  or  on  the 
question  of  what  style  is  to  be  followed  in  the  design. 
These  things  are  usually  the  architect's  starting  point, 
though  in  many  cases  it  would  have  been  well  for  the 
client  to  be  professionally  advised  from  the  start.  An 
architect's  opinion  as  to  what  kind  of  a  house  would 
be  best  suited  to  a  given  site  might  be  well  worth  hear- 
ing, and  might  result  in  a  better  solution  of  the  problem. 

Varying  sites  call  for  different  ways  of  locating  the 
house,  and  here,  at  the  outset,  is  a  case  in  which  any- 
thing resembling  a  fixed  rule  might  easily  be  very 
dangerous  to  follow. 

It  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to  give  careful  con- 
sideration to  the  points  of  the  compass  and  to  prevailing 
local  winds,  and  to  consider  these  as  factors  in  the 
design  of  the  house  from  its  inception.  If  the  site  is 
a  remote  one,  far  from  " improvements,"  the  questions 


LOCATION,  STYLE  AND  MATERIAL  227 

of  lighting,  water-supply  and  sewage  disposal  should 
be  at  least  considered  before  there  is  detailed  thought 
of  "  style."  Although  "  style  "  is  to  the  lay  observer 
the  most  conspicuous  of  the  architect's  performances, 
it  is  relatively  less  exacting  from  the  architect 's  point 
of  view  than  many  of  the  more  technical  problems  he  is 
required  to  solve. 

If  an  architect  has  been  selected  at  this  stage,  and 
has  visited  the  site,  and  the  location  of  the  house,  as 
exactly  as  possible,  has  been  determined,  it  is  well  for 
a  number  of  good  photographs  to  be  taken,  or,  in  the 
case  of  a  large  and  important  house,  an  accurate  topo- 
graphical survey  made  and  drawn.  In  this  way  the 
architect  may  study  the  different  grades  or  slopes  which 
will  govern  certain  parts  of  his  design  for  the  house. 

The  ideal  procedure  is  to  use  the  topographical  sur- 
vey as  data  for  the  construction  of  an  accurately 
proportioned  clay  model  of  the  site.  On  this  model 
it  is  possible  to  lay  out  driveways  and  approaches,  and 
even  to  block  in  the  house  itself,  in  miniature,  in  its 
exact  relation  to  the  place  it  is  to  occupy.  The  study  of 
an  architectural  project  by  means  of  a  model  is  of  the 
greatest  value  to  architect  and  client  alike.  To  the  first 
is  given  a  more  comprehensive  and  definite  vision  of 
the  problem,  and  to  the  second  is  given  a  presentation 
of  the  architect's  conception  of  the  relationship  of 
house  to  site  more  vivid  and  understandable  than  he 
could  possibly  obtain  from  any  number  of  drawings. 

It  is  well  to  mention  here  that  the  topographical 
survey  of  the  site,  being  a  civil  engineer's  or  surveyor's 
work,  is  not  a  part  of  the  architect's  work,  and  is  paid 
for  separately,  either  through  the  architect,  or  direct 
to  the  surveyor.  It  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  means  for 
arriving  most  directly  at  the  required  result — the  estab- 


228    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

lishment  of  the  exact  relation  of  house  to  site,  as  well 
as  the  disposition  of  drives,  approaches,  terraces,  out- 
buildings, etc. 

The  construction  of  the  model  is  usually  undertaken 
by  the  architect,  or  under  his  direction,  and  a  separate 
charge  should  rightly  be  expected  for  it,  since  it  in- 
volves a  considerable  amount  of  special  work. 

It  should  be  apparent  without  great  emphasis  that 
the  location,  of  placement,  of  the  house  on  its  site  is 
extremely  important.  Many  well-designed  houses  have 
given  an  appearance  of  unpleasing  awkwardness  solely 
because  of  the  fact  that  they  have  been  poorly  placed 
with  relation  to  the  natural  features  of  their  sites.  On 
the  other  hand,  many  houses  of  low  cost  and  of  little 
architectural  pretension  have  seemed  peculiarly  agree- 
able because,  on  observation,  it  will  be  seen  that 
every  advantage  has  been  taken  of  elevation,  grades, 
approaches  and  background. 

Architecturally,  as  well  as  naturally,  the  most  pleas- 
ing building  is  the  building  which  is  in  the  most  graceful 
harmony  with  its  site,  and  the  prospective  builder  may 
often  do  well  and  wisely  to  banish  from  his  mind  some 
preconceived  idea  he  may  have  had,  if  the  execution  of 
this  idea  would  result  in  an  unharmonious  relationship 
of  house  and  site. 

The  question  of  site  is  often  involved  in  the  question 
of  style,  any  formal  type  of  building  calling  for  a  level 
site,  while  the  rugged  hill-side  site  is  best  suited  by 
an  informal  or  picturesque  type  of  building.  Style, 
when  all  is  said,  must  always  be  a  matter  of  personal 
predilection.  To  say  that  no  formal  house  should  be 
placed  in  rustic  surroundings  is  to  ignore  the  ultra- 
formal  French  hunting-lodges  and  chateaux  which  are 
often  discovered  in  densely  wooded  tracts.  The 


Mellor*  Meigs,  Architects 

AN  AMERICAN  DERIVATION  FROM  THE  MODERN  ENGLISH  TYPE  OF 

COUNTRY  HOUSE 

A  harmonious  relationship  between  the  house  and  its  level  site  has  been  effected  by  the 
horizontal  lines  of  the  garden  walls 


AN  AMERICAN  COUNTRY  HOUSE  ESSENTIALLY  PICTURESQUE 

Successive  additions  to  this  charming  hillside  cottape  have  made  it,  with  the 
aid  of  informal  stone  steps  and  terraces,  a  part  of  the  steep  site  it  occupies 


W.  (i.  Kautoul,  Architect 

A  MODERN  COUNTRY  HOUSE  ESSENTIALLY  AMERICAN 
Early  New  England  houses,  as  well  as  those  of    the    first    Dutch    settlers,  have 
combined  in  furnishing  the  precedent 

r  •  • 


Albro  <fe  liindctierg,  Architects 

A   SMALL  COTTAGE  OF   NATIVE   DERIVATION 

The  inspiration  here  came  directly  from  the  early  Dutch  farm-houses  to  be  found  in  the 
portion  of  New  York  State  in  which  this  cottage  was  built 


LOCATION,  STYLE  AND  MATERIAL  229 

chateau,  it  is  true,  is  usually  blended  with  its  wood- 
land surroundings,  like  the  Italian  villa,  by  means  of 
formal  gardening.  It  would  seem  that  the  house,  from 
the  point  of  view  of  style,  is  best  considered  in  the  light 
of  an  architectural  background  or  setting  for  the  people 
who  are  to  occupy  it.  If  one  intends  to  live  and  enter- 
tain in  the  country  in  a  formal  and  rather  elaborate 
manner  (whether  or  not  this  is  to  be  regarded  as 
desirable),  certainly  the  picturesque  and  informal  house 
would  not  be  the  most  effective  setting.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  one's  idea  of  country  life  is  of  the  simple  and 
unaffected  kind,  most  characteristically  English  and 
American,  a  formal  French  chateau  would  prove  a 
miserable  disappointment,  and  architectural  success 
would  depend,  rather,  upon  an  architectural  rendering 
of  comfortable  informality  in  terms  of  the  picturesque. 

And  so  for  every  prospective  builder,  from  the  indi- 
vidual of  ultra-formal  tastes  to  the  ultra-simple  "next- 
to-nature ' '  enthusiast,  there  is  a  suitable  type  of  dwell- 
ing which  will  reflect  his  tastes  through  the  medium  of 
an  appropriate  architectural  setting.  No  fixed  rule  is 
possible — the  essential  of  suitability  is  too  flexible  and 
too  much  a  matter  of  the  individual  case.  It  is  pos- 
sible, however,  to  submit  a  few  generalities  which  might 
be  borne  in  mind,  either  in  those  cases  where  the  pros- 
pective builder  has  no  predilection  for  a  specific  style, 
or  where  it  might  be  highly  desirable  for  him  to  change 
his  mind. 

One  may  contemplate  building  in  a  certain  locality 
which  possesses  a  marked  architectural  " character" — 
for  example,  a  small  New  England  village.  Here,  as 
one  drives  down  the  old  elm-shaded  "main  street," 
there  may  be  seen  houses  which  all  conform  to  a  certain 
type.  They  are  simple,  wooden  houses,  usually  of  white 


230  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

•clapboards,  with  green  blinds,  and  the  intrusion  of 
a  distinctly  alien  type  of  house  can  only  be  regarded 
(locally,  as  well  as  in  the  abstract)  as  an  offence  against 
architectural  harmony  and  against  good  taste.  Con- 
sider, in  this  light,  the  erection  in  such  a  locality,  of 
a  Spanish  mission  house,  with  stucco  walls  and  a  bright 
red-tiled  roof,  and  outrageous  as  such  an  architectural 
faux  pas  may  seem,  it  is  no  worse  in  any  way  than  many 
which  have  accosted  the  writer 's  eye.  It  is  safe  to  say 
that  the  newcomers  would  have  earned  the  general  dis- 
approbation of  the  natives  for  miles  around,  long  be- 
fore they  actually  moved  into  their  new  and  inappro- 
priate premises. 

The  isolated  house  may  be  designed  to  conform  with 
any  stylistic  whim,  but  in  an  instance  where  there  are 
adjacent  houses  of  some  degree  of  architectural  con- 
formity "bad  taste"  rather  than  "individuality"  is 
expressed  by  the  intrusion  of  a  building  which  is  out 
of  keeping.  In  an  earlier  chapter  this  point  was 
brought  out  in  connection  with  the  choice  of  style  for 
an  American  village  church. 

No  local  style  is  so  mean  or  so  devoid  of  possibilities 
that  architectural  ingenuity  may  not  develop  a  thor- 
oughly satisfactory  rendering  in  which  that  style  is  the 
main  theme. 

As  in  the  case  of  a  well-designed  house  appearing  to 
fatal  disadvantage  by  reason  of  its  failure  in  relation  to 
its  natural  site,  many  well-designed  houses  (well- 
designed  in  themselves)  create  only  a  sensation  of  acute 
displeasure  when  they  are  seen  in  a  locality  in  which 
they  do  not  belong. 

Having  observed,  then,  that  architectural  style 
should  often  be  governed  by  natural  site  and  by  local 
architectural  prototypes,  we  now  find  that  styles  should 


LOCATION,  STYLE  AND  MATERIAL  231 

often  be  influenced  by  the  nature  of  local  building 
materials. 

As  an  obvious  generality  it  is  safe  to  say  that  no 
materials  are  more  suitable  to  a  given  locality  than 
those  which  are  found  in  that  locality,  and  in  this  con- 
nection we  will  soon  find  that  this  has  a  distinct  bearing 
on  economy. 

It  will  be  found  that  local  building  materials  have 
influenced  local  architectural  styles,  to  a  minor  degree, 
or  conspicuously,  and  so  we  find  both  material  and 
style,  interlinked  each  with  the  other,  forming  a  dual 
alliance  to  resent  the  intrusion  of  the  building  which 
is  transplanted  from  some  alien  locality. 

Usually,  and  in  a  perfectly  natural  way,  local  mate- 
rials are  best  adapted  to  local  styles,  because  they  have 
been  a  factor  in  the  development  of  those  styles.  Spe- 
cific types  of  building,  those  types  associated  with 
certain  specific  periods  and  countries,  demand  a  ren- 
dering in  certain  materials,  as  will  be  more  fully  dis- 
cussed in  a  following  chapter.  If  such  materials  are 
entirely  alien  to  the  locality  in  which  it  is  proposed  to 
erect  the  building,  the  prospective  builder  will  do  well 
to  recast  his  ideas  and  endeavour  to  arrive  at  some 
type  which  will  prove  more  suitable. 

In  New  England,  for  the  most  part,  grey,  weathered 
fieldstone  is  abundant.  Skies  are  often  grey,  the  earth 
is  grey — the  entire  landscape  is  a  harmony  of  low  tones. 
Consider,  then,  on  a  grey  New  England  coast,  a  house 
of  red  brick,  starting  up  from  the  ground  like  a  con- 
flagration, or  a  white  stucco  ''Mission"  house,  a  spot 
on  the  landscape  as  glaring  as  a  newspaper  carelessly 
thrown  on  a  green  lawn.  Such  extreme  cases,  and 
many  less  conspicuously  outrageous,  should  convince 
the  intelligent  and  thoughtful  builder  that  even  a  deep- 


232  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

rooted  predilection  for  some  unsuitable  type  of  building 
had  best  be  discarded,  even  with  temporary  regret,  in 
favour  of  a  building  which  will  be  appropriate,  and  will 
possess,  in  addition  to  its  architectural  merits,  the  last- 
ing merits  of  logical  choice  and  decent  good  taste. 

Up  to  this  point,  the  prospective  builder  may  have 
sought  no  professional  advice.  He  has  bought  or  other- 
wise acquired  his  real  estate,  he  has  formulated  in  his 
mind,  either  vaguely  or  definitely,  some  ideas  of  the 
location  or  placement  of  his  house  on  its  site,  and  he 
may  have  some  ideas,  as  well,  regarding  architectural 
style  and  the  materials  of  which  he  will  build.  With 
his  wife,  he  may  even  have  outlined  on  paper  some 
" plans,"  embodying  his  wishes  and  intentions  as  to  the 
interior  arrangement  of  his  new  abode. 

Some  wit  who  was  obviously  a  consummate  master 
of  words  once  said  that  * '  The  man  who  is  his  own  law- 
yer has  a  fool  for  a  client. ' '  Disregarding  exceptional 
instances,  the  same  is  peculiarly  true  if  one  substitute 
another  profession,  and  state  that '  *  The  man  who  is  his 
own  architect  has  a  fool  for  a  client. ' ' 

Before  giving  consideration  to  the  different  ways 
in  which  the  architect  is  usually,  or  is  best,  sought  by 
the  prospective  builder,  it  might  be  well  to  point  out 
a  few  of  the  more  serious  reasons  why  it  is  both  unde- 
sirable and  unwise  to  attempt  any  consequential  build- 
ing project  without  competent  professional  advice. 
Reasons  for  this  will  become  increasingly  apparent  as 
this  and  the  subsequent  chapters  proceed. 

The  prospective  builder  will  find  himself  handi- 
capped throughout  by  a  general  ignorance  of  details, 
and  will  be  daily  confronted  by  problems  on  which  he 
had  not  reckoned.  If  his  time  be  valuable,  he  will 
find  that  he  has  spent  far  more  in  his  own  time  than  he 


LOCATION,  STYLE  AND  MATERIAL  233 

would  have  been  called  upon  to  spend  on  his  architect's 
commission,  and,  if  economy  had  been  his  motive  in 
being  his  own  architect,  he  would  indeed  find  he  had 
*  *  a  fool  for  a  client. ' ' 

Lacking  specific  knowledge  of  different  makes,  quali- 
ties and  grades  of  lumber,  brick,  plumbing  fixtures, 
lighting  fixtures  and  hardware,  he  will  find  himself 
entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the  contractor,  who  will  be  his 
only  advisor. 

Furthermore,  his  friends,  as  soon  as  they  learn  he  is 
about  to  build,  will  heap  upon  him  a  mass  of  gratuitous 
' '  advice, ' '  and  as  most  of  their  warnings  or  recommen- 
dations will  be  found  to  be  conflicting,  he  will  have  no 
one  to  authoritatively  reconcile  or  appraise  the  various 
things  he  will  have  been  told. 

With  no  working  drawings,  great  difficulty  will  be 
encountered  when  the  contractor  or  builder  comes  to 
* '  take  quantities ' '  in  order  to  procure  the  materials,  and 
again,  when  these  have  been  procured  the  unfortunate 
amateur  will  have  no  knowledge  or  experience  to  guide 
him  in  the  matter  of  passing  upon  their  quality,  or  upon 
the  quality  of  the  workmanship.  Nor,  with  any  defi- 
nite and  binding  specifications,  will  he  have  any  means 
of  enforcing  the  use  of  certain  specific  materials  or 
fixtures  which  he  wishes  used  in  the  work. 

Throughout  the  progress  of  the  work  he  will  con- 
stantly be  asked  questions  by  the  contractor,  and  most 
of  these  he  will  naturally  be  unable  to  answer  intelli- 
gently, if  at  all.  On  the  whole,  he  will  come  to  realise, 
before  he  is  through,  that  the  architect  (with  whose 
actual  offices  he  had  not  been  familiar)  is  something 
more  than  a  man  who  "makes  blue-prints." 

Before  employing  an  architect,  however,  there  are 
several  questions  which  the  prospective  builder  may 


234  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

properly  look  into.  We  will  assume  that  he  has  deter- 
mined, with  some  degree  of  certainty,  the  location  of  his 
house,  the  general  style  in  which  he  wishes  it  built, 
and  the  materials  of  which  it  is  to  be  constructed.  He 
will  have  determined,  also,  the  amount  he  expects  to 
spend  on  the  project,  and  he  is  ready  to  consider  the 
actual  plan,  or  arrangement  of  rooms.  Here  he  will 
do  well  not  to  attempt  to  be  too  specific,  because  his 
architect  will  later  show  him  many  economies  and 
savings,  not  only  in  space  and  convenience,  but  in  dol- 
lars and  cents.  Few  amateur  planners,  for  instance, 
remember  that  plumbing  fixtures,  from  cellar  to  garret, 
should  be  kept  as  nearly  as  possible  in  vertical  align- 
ment, to  save  unnecessary  feet  of  pipe.  Nor  does  the 
amateur  planner  usually  think  of  heating,  or  of  avoid- 
ing rooms  and  halls  which  will  be  difficult  or  expensive 
to  keep  warm.  Owing  to  lack  of  experience  in  visualis- 
ing several  floors  of  a  house  at  once,  the  amateur  finds 
it  difficult  to  arrange  the  several  floor  plans  consistently 
and  economically.  Impossible  stairways  are  a  common 
feature  of  amateur  plans — the  architect  lays  out  a  well- 
studied  disposition  of  the  first  floor  and  plots  the 
second  floor  over  it,  on  tracing  paper,  so  that  lines  of 
plumbing  coincide,  bearing  partitions  come  into  vertical 
alignment,  and  stairways  practically  reach  from  one 
floor  to  another. 

Therefore,  the  general  idea  of  the  plan  may  be 
sketched  out,  but  it  is  well  to  remember  that  no  matter 
how  clever  it  seems  to  be,  it  will  be  vastly  improved 
and  will  be  made  practical  as  well  as  ideal  after  the 
architect  has  studied  it  a  little. 

Before  consulting  the  architect,  the  prospective 
builder  might  well  equip  himself  with  a  little  infor- 
mation regarding  local  conditions  in  the  locality  in 


LOCATION,  STYLE  AND  MATERIAL  235 

which  he  is  to  build,  unless  he  expects  to  engage  an 
architect  who  has  already  erected  a  number  of  houses 
in  that  locality. 

By  "local  conditions"  are  understood  such  matters 
as  local  labour  and  local  facilities  for  obtaining  mate- 
rials. If  labour  must  be  brought  from  a  distance,  to  an 
isolated  site,  greater  cost  is  to  be  anticipated  than  if 
there  are  local  stone-masons,  bricklayers,  carpenters 
and  plasterers  competent  to  perform  the  work.  A  few 
inquiries  in  any  neighbourhood  will  readily  acquaint 
the  prospective  builder  with  this  important  item  in  his 
project.  The  cost  of  the  house  will  also  be  governed 
by  the  nearness  or  remoteness  of  lumber-yards,  brick- 
yards, sash-and-blind  mills,  planing  mills  and  a  rail- 
road siding  or  freight  depot. 

Many  people  make  the  mistake  of  regarding  these 
points  as  of  minor  importance,  and  as  a  result  are 
puzzled,  disappointed  and  sometimes  (unfortunately) 
suspicious  when  they  find  that  their  house,  in  all 
respects  similar  to  one  clipped  from  a  popular  maga- 
zine and  said  to  cost  $12,000,  proves  to  cost  $18,000. 
The  house  shown  in  the  magazine  may  have  been  built 
under  generally  favouring  conditions  of  availability  of 
labour  and  material,  but  this  very  important  factor  in 
its  cost  may  not  have  been  mentioned  in  the  captivating 
legend  printed  beneath  the  picture. 

Little,  if  anything,  has  been  written  concerning 
unprofessional  advice,  those  warnings  and  recommen- 
dations mentioned  before,  and  always  generously  forth- 
coming from  various  sources.  These  " advices"  have 
ruined  many  a  fair  building  project  which  might  have 
gone  smilingly  forward  to  happy  completion,  and  have 
hampered  and  annoyed  the  architect  more  than  words 
can  express,  nullifying  many  of  his  best  efforts,  and 


236  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

setting  at  naught  many  of  his  most  valuable  recommen- 
dations. Unprofessional  advice  most  often  takes  the 
form  of  a  warning — one  will  be  advised  not  to  install 
casement  windows  because  they  leak,  and  it  will  be 
found  upon  investigation  that  the  man  who  has  issued 
this  pronunciamento  does  so  because,  unfortunately, 
he  has  had  a  poorly  designed  casement  window.  And 
so  it  is  with  all  building  materials  and  equipment — 
different  people  have  had  unfortunate  experiences  be- 
cause of  poor  or  unskilled  workmanship,  and  have  has- 
tened to  misplace  the  blame,  with  greater  vehemence 
than  intelligence.  Virtually  all  materials  and  devices 
used  in  building  are  susceptible  to  perfectly  satisfac- 
tory use  and  application  under  competent  direction,  just 
as  all  may  be  made  to  appear  defective  or  undesirable 
by  misuse  or  misconstruction.  A  can  of  paint,  properly 
mixed,  may  give  years  of  splendid  service  under  hard 
climatic  conditions :  the  same  can  of  paint,  mixed  for 
use  by  a  stupid  or  incompetent  painter,  may  flake  or 
crack  in  six  months.  The  example  is  intended  to  show 
how  little  real  value  should  be  attached  to  unprofes- 
sional opinions  in  matters  related  to  building.  No  man 
is  infallible,  but  it  should  be  reasonably  apparent  that 
an  architect  is  a  more  competent  authority  than  a 
banker  or  a  doctor  on  the  wearing  qualities  of  a 
weather-paint  or  the  formula  for  foundation  concrete. 

Occasion  will  arise  in  the  following  chapter  to  com- 
ment further  on  the  fallacy  of  paying  serious  attention 
to  unprofessional  advice. 

It  is  well,  by  all  means,  for  the  prospective  builder 
to  consider  all  the  preliminaries,  such  as  the  choice  of 
site,  the  style  of  the  house  and  the  general  disposition 
of  the  floor  plans,  with  his  wife,  rather  than  to  bring  her 
into  the  consultation  after  the  architect  has  begun  his 


LOCATION,  STYLE  AND  MATERIAL  237 

work.  The  two  who  are  to  live  in  the  house  should  be 
in  perfect  agreement  upon  its  essentials  before  a  third 
party  is  called  in  to  discuss  the  details.  In  building, 
the  result  of  which  is  permanent,  and  expensive  to  alter, 
it  should  certainly  be  apparent  to  all  that  common  sense 
and  economy  are  served  by  as  much  foresight  as  pos- 
sible. Virtually  all  the  features  of  a  house  which  prove 
"unfortunate"  after  it  is  built  might  have  been  entirely 
eliminated  by  a  little  thought  at  the  beginning.  The 
mere  question  of  which  side  to  hinge  a  door  can  readily 
be  determined  on  the  plans — an  instance  coming  to  mind 
wherein  the  mistress  of  the  proposed  house  went  over 
the  plans  very  carefully,  and  imagined  herself  going 
about  from  room  to  room,  opening  the  various  doors. 
She  followed,  also,  the  course  of  the  maid  answering  the 
front  door,  and  assured  herself  that  the  communication 
v?as  efficient  and  convenient.  She  imagined  herself  a 
guest,  and  studied  the  relation  of  the  guest  rooms  to 
the  bath-room,  and,  in  short,  "inspected"  the  house  be- 
fore its  first  foundation  stone  was  laid.  Such  considera- 
tion of  house  plans  is  practical,  efficient  and  highly 
desirable,  and  is  entirely  different  from  biased  insist- 
ence on  some  arbitrary  and  ill-advised  idea.  No  archi- 
tect will  resent  or  ignore  intelligent  or  reasonable 
criticism  and  discussion  of  his  plans — it  should  be  re- 
membered that  he  is,  primarily,  bent  upon  pleasing  his 
client,  rather  than  upon  devising  a  house  to  suit  himself. 
If  he  insists  upon  any  point,  it  is  usually  in  his  client's 
best  interests — a  satisfied  client  is  an  architect's  best 
advertisement,  and  almost  his  only  advertisement. 

Mentally  equipped,  then,  with  some  idea  of  the  un- 
importance and  lack  of  weight  to  be  accredited  to 
unprofessional  advices,  and  with  some  idea  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  he  will  consult  with  his  architect,  the 


238    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

prospective  builder  is  ready  to  select  his  architect — a 
quest  upon  which  he  usually  embarks  with  profound 
ignorance  and  dark  misgivings. 

In  general,  he  should  know  that  the  architect  is  a 
human  being,  like  himself,  and  is  a  professional  man, 
like  his  doctor  or  his  lawyer,  with  a  dash  of  the  artist 
thrown  in.  It  is  deeply  unfortunate,  both  for  the  pros- 
pective builder  and  the  architect,  that  there  exist  such 
strange  and  entirely  unfounded  ideas  about  the  archi- 
tectural profession.  Few  people  even  realise  that  it 
is  a  profession,  with  a  code  of  ethics  and  a  standard  of 
procedure  as  definite  as  the  profession  of  law  or  medi- 
cine. Of  the  nature  of  the  architectural  profession, 
however,  more  will  be  said  in  the  following  chapter. 

There  are  many  ways  of  selecting  an  architect,  and 
the  most  natural  way  will  usually  prove  the  best.  The 
prospective  builder  may  be  personally  acquainted  with 
an  architect  and  with  his  work — the  selection  here  would 
be  obvious.  An  architect  may  be  highly  recommended 
by  a  friend  for  whom  he  has  built  a  house.  If  no  such 
personal  point  of  contact  exists,  the  prospective  builder 
will  do  well  to  follow  closely  the  current  periodicals 
which  deal  specially  with  the  popular  side  of  building. 
Here  he  will  see  many  houses  of  many  types,  and  he  may 
be  right  in  inferring  that  an  architect  who  has  designed 
a  house  which  attracts  him,  or  which  closely  resembles 
the  house  he  has  in  mind,  will  be  a  wise  choice  for  him. 
Another  good  basis  for  choice  may  lie  in  the  observa- 
tion of  a  number  of  houses  in  the  locality  in  which  it 
is  proposed  to  build.  The  architect  who  has  built  the 
greater  number  of  these  will  usually  prove  a  safe  and 
expedient  choice  because  he  is  well  known,  is  thoroughly 
familiar  with  all  local  building  conditions,  and  has 
trained  the  local  contractor  and  artisans  to  work  in 


O 


Harry  Parker  and  Raymond  I'liwin.  Architcrt- 

S1MPLIOITY   AND   CHARM    COMBINED    IN    A    SMALL   ENGLISH   COTTAGE 

Modern  English  domestic  architecture  should  teach   us  much  in  such  details  as  windows 

and  doors,  as  well  as  in  such  charming  ideas  as  this  miniature  entrance  court 


LOCATION,  STYLE  AND  MATERIAL  239 

unison  with  him,  and  to  perform  work  strictly  in  accord- 
ance with  his  specifications  and  directions. 

If  the  prospective  builder  is  a  believer  in  extremely 
cautious  procedure,  he  may  do  well  to  carefully  inspect 
some  house  built  by  the  architect  he  is  considering  en- 
gaging, and  may  carry  caution  further  by  interviewing 
a  previous  client,  and  by  investigating  the  architect's 
standing  in  the  same  way  he  would  investigate  the 
standing  of  any  business  man. 

Mention  might  be  made  here  of  the  American 
Institute  of  Architects,  a  national  organization  which 
was  founded  for  the  purpose  of  standardising  the  prac- 
tice of  architecture  and  enforcing  the  strict  observance 
of  certain  professional  ethics.  The  Institute  has 
Chapters  in  all  of  the  larger  cities  of  the  United  States, 
and  members  are  admitted  only  when  recognised  to 
be  of  eligible  ability  and  integrity.  Members  must 
observe  all  the  regulations  and  the  ' '  Canon  of  Ethics ' ' 
laid  down  by  the  Institute,  or  forfeit  their  membership. 
In  the  choice  of  an  Institute  architect,  therefore,  it  is 
apparent  that  a  prospective  builder  has,  at  the  outset, 
a  certain  guarantee  regarding  the  questions  about 
which  he  may  have  been  most  apprehensive,  and  he  has, 
as  well,  an  organisation  to  which  he  may  appeal  any 
procedure  which  may  seem  seriously  unprofessional  or 
unethical. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  there  are  no 
able  or  reliable  architects  who  are  not  members  of  the 
American  Institute,  for  they  exist  in  great  numbers 
everywhere — architects  comparable  in  every  respect 
with  Institute  members  of  long  standing. 

In  most  cases  where  architects  practise  their  pro- 
fession in  partnership,  it  will  be  found  that  one  member 
of  the  firm  is  a  "  practical ' '  man,  attending  to  the  super- 


240   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

vision  and  specifications,  while  the  other  member  is 
the  ' '  designer, ' '  a  man  with  keen  artistic  instincts.  In 
a  firm  of  three  architects,  the  third  is  often  found  to 
be  an  executive,  or  a  man  of  marked  business  ability. 

Many  architects  practising!  alone,  however,  take  care 
of  all  three  phases  of  their  profession,  as  well  as  other 
aspects  of  which  the  client  is  not  even  aware.  Of  his 
varied  and  interesting  functions,  however,  more  will 
be  said  in  the  following  chapter.  All  architects  of  large 
practice,  whether  working  in  partnership  or  alone,  find 
it  necessary  to  have  in  their  employ  highly  able  special- 
ists in  different  branches  of  the  work — superin- 
tendents, specification  writers  and  structural  experts, 
in  addition  to  a  staff  of  draughtsmen,  directed  by  a 
man  upon  whom  devolves  a  great  weight  of  responsi- 
bility and  detail — the  head-draughtsman. 

Having  emerged  from  the  mists  of  misgiving  and 
uncertainty,  and  finally  selected  an  architect,  the  pros- 
pective builder  now  becomes  a ' '  client, ' '  and  is  in  a  way 
to  see  his  visionary  abode  definitely  put  on  paper,  later 
to  arise  before  his  eyes  in  all  its  solidity  and  perma- 
nence of  masonry  and  carpentry.  The  venture  is  finally 
launched,  and  the  following  chapter  will  deal  with  the 
business  relationship  which  has  been  created  by  the 
architect's  engagement,  and  with  the  proper  observ- 
ances which  should  exist  on  both  sides. 

Before  entering  upon  this  important  topic,  however, 
the  writer  feels  that  the  present  chapter  would  be  in- 
complete without  some  advice  upon  the  selection  of  an 
architect  for  building  projects  other  than  dwellings — • 
for  such  projects  as  civic  buildings,  schools,  hospitals, 
clubs  and  churches.  Here  the  choice  of  an  architect 
will  result  from  the  decision  of  a  committee  or  the 
award  in  a  competition.  A  word  about  competitions. 


241 

An  architectural  competition,  intelligently  conducted, 
will  secure  for  a  given  building  fairly  and  conclusively, 
a  design  as  nearly  as  possible  the  best:  unintelligently 
conducted  an  architectural  competition  is  the  most  stu- 
pid procedure  conceivable. 

The  American  Institute  of  Architects  has  devoted 
a  great  deal  of  study  to  the  subject  of  architectural 
competitions,  in  an  effort  to  standardise  the  procedure 
of  committees  and  municipalities,  and  to  secure  the  best 
possible  results  in  the  erection  of  important  buildings. 
The  results  of  this  study,  in  the  form  of  a  set  of  "  rules 
governing  competitions"  to  be  observed  by  Institute 
members,  was  printed  in  brochure  form,  and  is  readily 
obtainable  by  writing  to  the  Secretary  of  the  American 
Institute  of  Architects,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Nearly  all  the  important  public  buildings  of  this 
country  are  the  result  of  competitions,  and  in  most  cases 
a  number  of  the  more  prominent  firms  have  been  invited 
to  submit  drawings,  according  to  a  program  of  require- 
ments drawn  up  by  a  committee.  An  invited  competitor 
is  usually  nominally  remunerated  for  his  work,  whether 
or  not  successful. 

In  the  important  civic  building,  then,  such  as  a 
library,  museum  or  city  hall,  the  municipal  committee 
in  charge  of  the  project  will  do  well  to  avail  itself  of 
the  carefully  studied  procedure  outlined  by  the  Ameri- 
can Institute  of  Architects. 

In  the  matter  of  making  awards,  many  mistakes 
have  been  made  by  placing  the  power  of  award  in  the 
hands  of  a  lay  jury — a  proceeding  which  ought  to 
appear  as  absurd  as  it  actually  is.  There  should  be  at 
least  one  competent  architect  on  the  jury  of  award, 
for  it  will  prove  absolutely  essential  for  some  informed 
person  to  explain  the  drawings  to  the  lay  members 

16 


242  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

before  any  intelligent  conclusion  as  to  respective  merit 
can  be  reached. 

This  is  true,  also,  of  the  formation  of  committees 
and  juries  in  connection  with  clubs  and  churches.  The 
board  may  consist  of  several  citizens  who  are  entirely 
unfamiliar  with  architecture,  and  there  may  be  one  man 
who  has  travelled  extensively  and  seen  many  build- 
ings— but  there  should  always  be  an  architect,  pref- 
erably called  from  some  distant  city.  With  no  per- 
sonal professional  interest  in  the  project,  the  services 
of  such  an  architect  would  prove  invaluable,  and  the 
committee  would  be  assured  of  competent  and  unpreju- 
diced advice  well  worth  the  amount  of  the  fee  and  ex- 
penses which  would  be  voted  to  him. 

If  the  scale  of  a  building  project — a  small  church, 
for  example — did  not  warrant  the  weighty  and  expen- 
sive procedure  of  an  architectural  competition,  the 
members  of  the  committee  in  whose  hands  the  under- 
taking was  placed,  would  do  well  to  study  as  many  files 
of  the  leading  architectural  periodicals  as  they  may 
obtain,  as  well  as  books  on  architecture,  and  might,  if 
still  in  doubt,  write  to  the  American  Institute  of  Archi- 
tects, as  a  perfectly  unprejudiced  authority,  for  rec- 
ommendations of  architects  whose  works  would  par- 
ticularly fit  them  to  carry  out  the  project  in  hand. 

Architects  who  are  ' '  specialists ' '  in  certain  types  of 
buildings — notably  school  buildings,  and  hospitals, 
banks  and  hotels,  will  be  found  to  possess  certain  recom- 
mendations for  selection  to  carry  out  the  type  of  build- 
ing in  which  they  have  specialised,  in  that  their  experi- 
ence has  taught  them  many  valuable  details. 

Only  in  recent  years  have  real-estate  operators  come 
to  realise  the  importance  of  securing  competent  archi- 
tectural services  in  the  planning  of  groups  of  "ready 


LOCATION,  STYLE  AND  MATERIAL  243 

made"  houses.  Careful  architectural  supervision  will 
insure  a  consistency  in  the  general  aspect  of  a  given 
real-estate  development,  as  well  as  an  attractive  charac- 
ter to  the  individual  houses.  In  some  more  notable 
instances  architects  and  landscape  architects  have  been 
called  in  to  work  together  toward  the  creation  of  a 
really  attractive  living  environment,  so  that  already 
there  are  several  tracts  which  should  be  models  to  all 
who  are  planning  the  building  development  of  any  large 
piece  of  real  estate.  The  significant  fact  is  that  the 
more  intelligent  real-estate  operators  now  realise  that 
the  increased  initial  expense  involved  in  securing  com- 
petent architectural  service  is  not  money  wasted,  but 
money  invested,  in  that  there  are  created  far  higher 
rental  and  selling  values  than  would  otherwise  exist. 
"  Neighbourhood  planning,"  "  garden  cities,"  and 
"model  villages"  have,  for  some  time,  been  common 
architectural  achievements  in  England  and  on  the  Con- 
tinent, and  the  unlimited  possibilities  for  this  practical 
application  of  " architecture "  to  "building"  are  but  at 
the  dawn  of  their  realisation  in  this  country. 

Eeverting  again  to  the  individual  who  is  about  to 
build  for  himself  a  dwelling,  the  following  chapter  will 
take  up  the  relationship  between  this  individual  (now 
a  "client')  and  the  architect  whom  he  has  selected  to 
carry  out  the  work. 


ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT 

BUILDING  IS  A  BUSINESS  TRANSACTION.  HOW  TO  CONSULT 
ARCHITECT.  THE  NATURE  OF  THE  ARCHITECT'S  SER- 
VICES. WHAT  ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT  SHOULD  EACH 
RIGHTLY  EXPECT  FROM  THE  OTHER.  BASIS  OF  CHARGES, 
SUPERVISION,  "EXTRAS,"  ETC.  ARCHITECTURAL  DRAW- 
INGS AND  SPECIFICATIONS 

SHORTLY  before  the  close  of  the  preceding  chapter 
the  prospective  builder  was  followed  through  vari- 
ous means  of  selecting  an  architect,  having  done  which, 
and  called  for  the  initial  consultation,  he  has  graduated 
from  the  status  of  a '  'prospective  builder, ' '  and  become 
a  client. 

Perhaps  no  one  thing  is  more  important  for  the 
client  to  remember  throughout  the  building  of  his  house 
than  the  fact  that,  after  engaging  an  architect,  he  has 
entered  upon  a  business  relationship,  and  that  the  more 
businesslike  this  relationship  is  kept,  the  better  for  both 
parties.  The  building  of  a  house,  even  a  small  house, 
calls  for  the  expenditure  of  too  much  money  on  the  one 
hand  and  too  much  skilled  professional  work  on  the 
other  to  be  regarded  as  a  mere  "transaction  between 
friends. "  It  is  not  intended  by  this  to  imply  that  either 
architect  or  client  should  be  cold  or  suspicious  in  their 
dealings  with  each  other — the  better  friends  they  are 
throughout,  the  better  for  all  concerned,  and  if  all  has 
gone  as  it  should,  they  will  be  the  best  of  friends  after- 
ward. If  the  architect  has  been  asked  to  dinner,  has 
met  the  client's  family  and  friends,  he  is  in  a  better 
position  to  add  those  intimate  personal  touches  to  the 
house  which  make  it  a  true  expression  of  the  owner's 

244 


From  a  drawing  by  K.  K.  Newman,  Architect 

THE   ARCHITECT'S  PRELIMINARY   SKETCH 


THE  EXECUTED  BUILDING 

These  two  illustrations  show  the  remarkable  accuracy  of  vision  possessed  by  the  architect,  who 
produced  the  preliminary  sketch  before  one  stone  of  the  actual  house  was  laid 


ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT  245 

individuality.  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that 
social  and  business  relations  with  the  architect  should 
be  kept  strictly  separate — the  architect  himself  would 
rather  have  it  so,  and  far  prefers  to  receive  instructions 
in  writing,  in  a  businesslike  manner,  than  over  the 
dinner-table,  where  no  record  exists  of  what  has  been 
said.  Some  houses,  it  is  true,  have  been  happily  and 
successfully  built  in  a  delightfully  hap-hazard  and  in- 
formal way,  with  little  if  any  of  the  businesslike 
elements  entering  the  transaction — but  this  has  been 
because  of  a  natural  affinity  and  congeniality  of  tastes 
and  confidence  on  the  part  of  both  architect  and  client, 
rather  than  because  it  is  in  any  way  a  safe  or  recom- 
mendable  method  of  procedure  in  general. 

Eeturning  to  the  average  case,  it  might  well  be  re- 
iterated that  much  of  the  success  and  smoothness  of 
the  whole  building  project  will  depend  upon  the  client, 
fully  realising,  before  his  first  visit  to  the  architect's 
office,  or  his  first  proposal  to  the  architect  he  has 
selected,  that  he  is  about  to  enter  a  business  relation. 

It  is  a  strange  and  inexplicable  circumstance  that  so 
many  business  men,  punctilious  to  a  degree  in  their 
every  day  business  dealings,  and  in  the  enforcement  of 
system  and  routine  in  their  own  offices,  are  flagrantly 
unbusinesslike  in  their  dealings  with  the  architect. 

To  engage  an  architect  to  draw  plans  and  give 
skilled  supervision,  especially  for  a  small  house,  is 
not  to  do  him  a  personal  favour,  for  which  he  should  be 
humbly  grateful  throughout  the  whole  progress  of  the 
building.  In  this  connection,  figures,  perhaps,  give  a 
more  lucid  demonstration  than  words.  The  percentage 
basis  of  charges  will  be  dealt  with  presently — suffice  it 
to  say  that  the  architect  is  receiving  his  ten  per  cent, 
commission  on  a  house  estimated  to  cost  $10,000.00 


246  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

(more  often  he  receives  seven  per  cent.)  his  fee,  then, 
on  the  ten  per  cent,  basis  is  $1000.00,  which,  however, 
he  does  not  net,  but  must  allow  a  certain  proportion  for 
"overhead  expense"  (his  office  rent,  etc.)  and  a  certain 
amount  for  the  expense  he  has  been  at  to  produce  the 
drawings  (draughtsmen's  salaries,  etc.).  It  will  be 
seen  from  this  that  he  is  fortunate  if  he  is  able  to  clear 
half  the  total  amount  of  his  commission,  and  it  must 
at  once  become  apparent,  even  to  a  client  who  is  not, 
himself,  a  business  man,  how  many  houses,  averaging 
in  cost  $10,000.00  this  architect  must  build  if  he  is  to 
make  even  a  fair  income. 

It  should  become  equally  apparent  to  the  client  about 
how  much  of  the  architect 's  time  he  should  reasonably 
be  expected  to  devote  to  one  $10,000.00  house.  The 
client  who  is  building  a  small  and  very  inexpensive 
house — even  a  "bungalow  client"  is,  unfortunately 
usually  the  most  unreasonable.  In  all  probability  this 
building  venture  is  his  first  expenditure  of  any  con- 
siderable sum  of  money,  and  he  is  bound  to  receive  his 
money's  worth.  He  conceives  of  himself  somewhat 
in  the  light  of  a  "captain  of  industry,"  and  pictures  a 
large  staff  of  labourers  living  from  his  expenditure  on 
the  house,  himself,  too,  in  the  light  of  a  patron  of  the 
arts,  grandly  giving  the  commission  to  build  his  $8000 
venture  to  some  grateful  architect.  In  work  of  this 
calibre,  were  the  truth  known,  the  architect  quite  often 
considers  himself  fortunate  to  produce  the  drawings 
at  cost,  and  may  have  accepted  the  commission  only 
because  he  could  not  refuse  it,  or  because  he  had  need 
to  keep  one  or  two  of  his  draughtsmen  busy  through  a 
dull  period.  The  small-house  client  with  enlarged  ideas 
of  his  importance  would  do  well  to  go  (unwittingly)  to 
one  of  the  more  prominent  country-house  architects 


ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT  247 

who  make  it  a  practice  not  to  undertake  any  work  for 
a  house  estimated  to  cost  less  than  $50,000.  He 
would,  no  doubt,  acquire  his  first  lesson  in  the  im- 
portance of l '  scale. ' ' 

There  are  many  architects,  however,  who  specialise 
in  small-house  work,  and  whose  practice  is  of  sufficient 
volume  to  be  profitable. 

The  client,  then,  enters  upon  his  first  consultation 
with  due  recognition  of  the  fact  that  he  is  embarking 
in  a  business  transaction  and  with  due  recognition  of 
the  fact  that  the  architect  has,  of  necessity,  other  work 
on  hand,  so  that  a  fair  and  just  proportion  (not  all) 
of  his  time  will  be  devoted  to  the  new  project. 

In  the  first  consultation  it  is  highly  advisable  for 
the  client  to  be  as  explicit  and  as  complete  in  his  outline 
of  the  proposed  house  as  it  is  possible,  without  technical 
knowledge,  for  him  to  be.  Beginning  with  a  statement 
of  the  amount  of  money  he  is  prepared  to  spend,  the 
client  will  do  well  to  show  the  architect  whatever 
sketches  or  plans  he  may  have  evolved,  or  whatever 
photographs  or  clippings  from  magazines  he  may  have 
regarded  as  suggesting  the  kind  of  house  he  desires. 
From  these  documents  the  architect  will  be  enabled  to 
form,  at  the  start,  a  fair  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  proj- 
ect upon  which  he  is  being  engaged,  and  much  time  will 
be  saved  in  the  architect's  preparation  of  preliminary 
sketches  which  do  not  meet  with  the  client's  wishes. 
In  this  connection,  however,  it  is  well  to  remember  that 
one  should  never  ask  an  architect  to  copy  another 
house  exactly,  no  matter  how  closely  one  may  wish  him 
to  follow  it.  No  architect  of  standing  would  consent 
to  such  procedure,  on  ethical  grounds,  and  any  archi- 
tect would  regard  such  a  request  as  a  distinct  reflection 
upon  his  creative  ability.  The  writer  is  familiar  with 


248    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

a  case  in  which  such  a  request  was  made,  and  flatly 
refused  by  the  architect.  The  client,  nothing  daunted, 
went  to  the  contractor  who  had  built  the  house  he  wished 
copied,  and,  using  the  original  plans,  in  blue-print  form, 
still  in  the  contractor's  possession,  had  an  inferior 
duplicate  erected — a  grave  reflection  upon  the  con- 
tractor's integrity  and  an  outrageous  affront  to  the 
architectural  profession  and  to  every  tenet  of  common 
decency. 

In  the  first  consultation  with  the  architect  the  client 
should  give  his  fullest  confidence,  withholding  nothing 
which  the  architect  should  know  in  order  to  proceed 
intelligently  and  efficiently  with  the  work.  The  proce- 
dure here  should  be  regarded  as  in  no  wise  different 
from  a  consultation  in  which  a  client  is  acquainting  a 
lawyer  with  the  circumstances  which  the  lawyer  will 
require  in  preparing  his  brief.  If  the  client  entertains 
any  doubt  regarding  the  architect's  ability  or  his  quali- 
fications for  carrying  out  the  work  in  hand,  he  should 
satisfy  these  doubts  before  proceeding  any  further,  for 
certain  complications  and  friction  will  arise  later  if  the 
project  is  commenced  with  any  mistrust  on  the  part  of 
the  client.  If  the  client  is  a  naturally  "canny"  indi- 
vidual, let  him  make  sure  of  his  architect  first,  rather 
than  heap  recriminations  upon  him  later  for  a  lack  of 
harmony,  which,  after  all,  may  be  due  only  to  the 
client's  "difficult"  personality,  or  his  oversight  in 
neglecting  to  select  an  architect  who  will  be  reasonably 
certain  to  please  him. 

The  client  should  remember,  throughout  the  course 
of  the  work,  that  he  is  paying  a  fixed  and  standard  fee 
for  certain  fixed  and  standard  professional  services 
(often  receiving  more  than  the  architect  is  called  upon 
in  the  contract,  to  perform)  and  that  the  more  wisely 


ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT  249 

lie  avails  himself  of  these  services,  the  better  value  he 
is  receiving  for  his  money.  The  futility  and  folly  should 
be  apparent  in  those  cases  (unfortunately  frequent) 
where  the  client,  biassed  by  some  outside  ill-advised 
notion,  attempts  to  set  his  fantastic  imaginings  above 
the  architect's  absolute  professional  knowledge.  Law- 
yers' clients  and  doctors'  patients,  both  dealing  with 
men  who  are  no  more  or  no  less  professional  men  than 
the  architect,  seem  to  show  better  judgment  and  pro- 
ceed as  though  they  realised  that  they  had  sought  out 
men  better  informed  on  these  special  subjects  than 
they,  to  advise  them  and  to  perform  certain  profes- 
sional services  for  them. 

In  telling  the  architect  all  that  is  possible  in  the 
first  consultation,  it  is  well  for  the  client  to  remember 
that,  unless  otherwise  instructed,  the  architect  will 
assume  that  all  such  items  as  doors,  windows,  hardware 
and  so  forth  are  to  be  " stock,"  by  which  is  understood 
such  as  are  obtainable  ready-made  on  the  market.  This 
applies,  also,  to  brick  and  to  materials  in  general.  All 
"stock"  building  materials  are  of  standard  cost,  fluctu- 
ating only  with  large  and  nation-wide  fluctuations  in 
manufacturing  or  raw  material  costs. 

If,  however,  the  client  has  in  mind  certain  "special" 
items,  such  as  casement  windows  of  unusual  type, 
extra  high-grade  hardware  or  lighting  fixtures,  or 
some  special  high-priced  face-brick  or  floor  tile,  he 
should  acquaint  the  architect  with  these  things  at  the 
outset,  before  the  contractor  has  been  asked  to  bid  on 
the  plans  and  specifications.  The  specifications  (of 
which  more  later)  will  itemise  all  such  special  material 
or  equipment,  preferably  by  actual  name,  in  order  to 
avoid  any  substitution  on  the  contractor's  part. 

The  client  will  find  that  the  architect  has  a  full  col- 


250   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

lection  of  catalogues,  and  often  a ' '  museum ' '  of  samples 
of  various  bricks,  tiles  and  the  like,  and  can  readily 
obtain  samples  of  any  building  product  which  the  client 
may  wish  to  examine.  From  these  actual  materials, 
it  will  be  possible  for  the  client  to  ascertain  exactly 
what  his  required  * '  specials ' '  will  cost,  and  much  later 
distress  will  be  saved. 

In  the  matter  of  definitely  determining  in  advance 
exactly  what  the  client  wishes,  the  writer  has  considered 
the  advantage  which  would  come  from  the  preparation 
of  a  standard  printed  blank,  consisting  of  a  series  of 
questions  regarding  a  proposed  house,  beginning  with 
the  foundations  and  comprising  every  detail  of  finished 
equipment.  Many  of  these  questions  the  client  would 
be  unable  to  answer,  but  in  each  case  the  architect  could 
recommend  certain  products  or  equipment  which  his  ex- 
perience had  proved  desirable,  in  point  of  economy  or 
any  other  consideration,  and  could  illustrate  his  point 
by  means  of  samples  or  catalogue  illustrations.  Such 
an  initial  agreement  of  ideas  on  the  part  of  both  would 
greatly  facilitate  the  writing  of  accurate  specifications 
at  the  first  draft,  and  would  save  many  inconvenient 
and  sometimes  expensive  changes  later.  Through  lack 
of  familiarity  with  the  appearance  of  much  that  is  to 
be  built  into  his  house,  the  client  is  often  disappointed 
and  dissatisfied  with  certain  details,  all  of  which  might 
well  have  been  avoided  if  a  knowledge  had  been  acquired 
at  the  start.  Much  detail,  however,  can  safely  be  left 
to  the  architect,  if  the  client  reposes  in  him  the  proper 
amount  of  confidence. 

Reverting  to  the  importance  of  acquainting  the 
architect,  at  the  very  beginning,  with  all ' '  special ' '  and 
extra-expensive  items  desired  by  the  client,  it  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that  this  will  eliminate,  or  at  least  lessen 


ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT  251 

the  list  of ' '  extras ' '  which  often  run  the  cost  of  a  house 
far  beyond  the  client's  intention.  No  one  detail  of 
practice,  perhaps,  has  caused  more  unfortunate  friction 
between  architect  and  client  than  this  matter  of 
' '  extras, ' '  which  is  the  more  to  be  deplored  in  that  no 
misunderstanding  should  be  necessary. 

Quite  often  a  client  remembers,  after  the  house  is 
half  completed,  that  he  had  intended,  for  example,  to 
have  copper  rain  gutters  instead  of  painted  tin.  He 
promptly  telephones  the  architect  to  make  the  change, 
and  the  architect,  making  this  note,  mentions  the  fact 
that  the  copper  gutters,  costing  about  four  times  as 
much  as  the  painted  tin  gutters  allowed  for  in  the 
specifications,  will  naturally  appear  as  an  " extra." 
The  client  answers  that  he  is  aware  of  this,  but  to  order 
the  copper  gutters,  then  promptly  forgets  the  whole 
conversation  until  he  is  confronted  with  a  considerable 
extra  charge  for  this  and  several  other  similar  items, 
added  or  changed  after  the  estimate  on  the  whole  house 
was  prepared.  There  usually  ensues  a  grievous  scene, 
doubly  grievous  because  totally  unnecessary.  The 
client  may  (and  often  does)  maintain  that  the  extra 
should  go  in  for  the  estimated  cost,  on  the  ground  that 
he  had  always  intended  from  the  start  to  have,  for 
example,  copper  gutters  instead  of  painted  tin.  The 
fact  that  he  neglected  to  mention  this  rather  expensive 
preference  to  the  architect,  either  before  or  after  the 
specifications  were  drawn  up,  carries  no  weight  with 
him,  although,  as  was  mentioned  before,  he  may  be  a 
business  man  in  every  other  relation  than  that  with  the 
architect.  Quite  often  he  will  accept  the  charge  with 
exceeding  ill-grace,  grumbling  words  to  the  effect 
that  he  had  always  heard  this  was  the  way  with  archi- 
tects— they  say  they  will  build  a  house  to  cost  a  certain 


252  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

sum  of  money,  then  you  find  it  costs  half  again  as  much 
because  of  the  load  of  ' '  extras ' '  they  put  on. 

No  architect  of  any  experience  or  standing,  it  should 
be  remembered,  will  of  his  own  accord,  and  without 
authorisation  from  the  client,  make  any  change  what- 
ever in  the  specifications  for  the  house.  The  writer  is 
familiar  with  one  excellent  method  of  procedure  de- 
signed by  a  New  York  firm  of  architects  to  eliminate 
all  confusion  and  recrimination  in  regard  to  extras. 
They  insisted  that  any  instructions  whatsoever  involv- 
ing any  extra  labour,  material  or  equipment  not  stipu- 
lated in  the  specifications  or  shown  in  the  drawings  must 
be  ordered  by  the  client  in  writing,  and  made  it  clear 
that  no  such  extras  would  be  performed,  purchased  or 
installed  without  such  written  instructions.  In  this  way, 
argument  was  forestalled  and  friction  avoided,  and 
the  procedure  is  to  be  recommended  not  only  to  archi- 
tects but  to  clients.  It  is  a  curious  thing  that  so  many 
business  men  give  casual  instructions  to  their  archi- 
tects, either  while  going  through  the  building  or  over 
the  telephone,  and  an  unfortunate  thing  that  many 
architects  carry  out  such  instructions  without  any 
written  order.  A  man  who  would  not  dream  of  follow- 
ing up  a  written  order  for  eight  carloads  of  wheat  with 
a  telephone  message  to  increase  it  to  twelve,  is, 
strangely  enough,  quite  capable  of  telephoning  his 
architect  to  make  some  expensive  change  or  substitu- 
tion on  his  house  without  any  following  written  con- 
firmation of  the  order. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  estimate,  to  specifi- 
cations and  to  drawings,  and  these  important  points,  as 
well  as  architect's  supervision  and  dealings  with  the 
contractor,  now  come  under  consideration. 

There  are  several  methods  of  estimating,  and  of 


ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT  253 

these  the  only  one  which  is  to  be  regarded  as  an  approxi- 
mation of  cost  is  the  estimate  presented  with  the  pre- 
liminary sketches.  Even  this,  however,  if  based  on 
exact  initial  data,  and  given  by  an  architect  who  has  had 
considerable  experience  in  building  the  type  of  house 
under  consideration,  will  often  come  within  a  hundred 
dollars  of  the  actual  cost  of  the  house,  completed. 

The  preliminary  estimate,  however,  should  not  be 
regarded  as  final — " local  conditions"  spoken  of  in  the 
chapter  preceding  may  influence  it  considerably,  one 
way  or  the  other.  The  most  reliable  preliminary,  as 
well  as  the  most  reliable  final  estimate,  is  that  of  a  local 
contractor,  who  bases  his  figures  on  the  definite  speci- 
fications and  working  drawings  of  the  architect.  There 
should  be  no  deflection  from  this,  and  any  increase  in 
cost  due  to  "extras"  should  be  duly  expected  and 
accepted  as  discussed  in  the  preceding  paragraphs. 

Let  it  be  supposed  that  the  preliminary  drawings, 
consisting  of  a  perspective  sketch,  complete  outline 
plans  and  the  four  ' ;  elevations ' '  or  direct  views  of  the 
four  sides  of  the  house,  have  been  agreed  upon  and 
changed  to  conform  entirely  with  the  client's  views. 
These  preliminary  drawings  will  have  been  taken,  per- 
haps, to  the  building  site,  and  will  have  been  discussed 
by  such  members  of  the  client's  family  and  such  of 
his  friends  as  he  has  called  in  to  aid  his  judgment.  To 
save  expensive  changes  in  the  later  drawings,  it  is 
highly  desirable  for  the  client  to  make  every  change  and 
suggestion  he  can  possibly  think  of  at  this  stage.  These 
drawings  are  usually  in  pencil,  and  are  to  be  regarded 
as  tentative  sketches — a  basis  for  discussion. 

When  these,  the  "preliminaries"  are  finally  pro- 
nounced ' '  final, ' '  the  architect  is  ready  to  proceed  with 
the  specifications  and  the  working  drawings,  and  the 


254  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

client  is  asked  (if  lie  has  not  been  asked  earlier)  to  sign 
the  "Standard  Form  of  Agreement  Between  Owner 
and  Architect. ' '  *  This  document,  which  is  seldom  seen 
by  a  prospective  builder  until  it  is  presented  to  him  to 
sign,  contains  a  very  clear  exposition  of  the  various 
services  which  the  architect  is  required  to  perform,  and 
is  therefore  printed  here  in  full,  as  an  important  part  of 
this  chapter. 

CONDITIONS  OF  AGREEMENT  BETWEEN   OWNER  AND  ARCHITECT 

Article  1.  The  Architect's  Services. — The  Architect's  professional 
services  consist  of  the  necessary  conferences,  the  preparation  of  prelimi- 
nary studies,  working  drawings,  specifications,  large  scale  and  full  size 
detail  drawings;  the  drafting  of  forms  of  proposals  and  contracts; 
the  issuance  of  certificates  of  payment;  the  keeping  of  accounts,  the 
general  administration  of  the  business  and  supervision  of  the  work. 

2.  The   Architect's   Fee. — The    fee   payable   by   the   Owner   to   the 
Architect  for  the  performance  of  the  above  services  is  the  percentage 
hereinbefore  defined  as  the  basic  rate,  computed  upon  the  cost  of  the 
work  in  respect  of  which  such  services  have  been  performed,  subject, 
however,    to    any    modifications   growing   out   of   these   Conditions    of 
Agreement. 

3.  Reimbursements. — The  Owner  is  to  reimburse  the  Architect  the 
costs  of  transportation  and,  living  incurred  by  him  and  his  assistants 
while  travelling  in  discharge  of  duties  connected  with  the  work,  and 
the  costs  of  the  services  of  heating,  ventilating,  mechanical,  and  elec- 
trical engineers. 

4.  Extra  Services  and  Special  Ca$es. — If  after  a  definite  scheme 
has  been  approved,  the  Owner  makes  a  decision  which,  for  its  proper 
execution,  involves  extra  services  and  expense  for  changes  in  or  addi- 
tions to  the  drawings,  specifications  or  other  documents;   or  if  a  con- 
tract be  let  by  cost  of  labor  and  material  plus  a  percentage  or  fixed 
sum;  or  if  the  services  of  the  Architect  are  rendered  for  work  contem- 
plated but  not  executed;  or  if  the  Architect  is  put  to  labor  or  expense 
by  delays  caused  by  the  Owner  or  a  contractor,  or  by  the  delinquency  or 
insolvency  of  either,  he  shall  be  equitably  paid  for  such  extra  service 
and  expense. 

The  basic  rate  as  hereinbefore  defined  is  to  be  used  when  all  of 
the  work  is  let  under  one  contract.  Should  the  Owner  determine  to 

'Copyright,  1916,  by  the  American  Institute  of  Architects. 


ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT  255 

have  certain  portions  of  the  work  executed  under  separate  contracts, 
as  the  Architect's  burden  of  service,  expense  and  responsibility  ia 
thereby  increased,  the  rate  in  connection  with  such  portions  of  the 
work  shall  be  four  per  cent  greater  than  the  basic  rate.  Should  the 
Owner  determine  to  have  substantially  the  entire  work  executed  under 
separate  contracts,  then  such  higher  rate  shall  apply  to  the  entire  work. 
In  any  event,  however,  the  basic  rate  shall,  without  increase,  apply 
to  contracts  for  any  portions  of  the  work  on  which  the  Owner  reimburses 
the  Engineer's  fees  to  the  Architect,  and  to  the  cost  of  articles  not  de- 
signed by  the  Architect  but  purchased  under  his  direction. 

Should  the  work  or  any  part  of  it  be  abandoned  or  suspended  or 
should  the  Owner  vary  the  amount  of  any  contract  by  accepting  a 
credit  for  the  omission  or  modification  of  any  work  covered  by  it, 
the  Architect  is  to  be  paid  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  this  Agree- 
ment for  the  proportion  of  his  service  rendered  on  account  of  it  up  to 
the  time  of  such  abandonment,  suspension  or  acceptance. 

No  deduction  shall  be  made  from  the  Architect's  fee  on  account  of 
penalty,  liquidated  damages,  or  other  sums  withheld  from  payments  to 
contractors. 

5.  Payments. — Payments   to   the   Architect  on   his   fee   are  due  as 
his  work   progresses   in  the  following  order:    upon   completion  of   the 
preliminary  studies,  twenty  per  cent  of  the  entire  fee;  upon  completion 
of  specifications  and  general  working  drawings    (exclusive  of  details), 
forty   per   cent  additional  of  the  entire  fee,  the   remainder  being  due 
from  time  to  time  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of   service   rendered. 
Payments  to  the  Architect,  other  than  those  on  his  fee,  and  all  reim- 
bursements of  costs  fall  due  from  time  to  time  as  his   work   is  done 
or  as  costs  are  incurred.     Until  contracts  are  signed  charges  are  to 
be  based  upon  a  reasonable  estimated  cost  of  the  work  and;  payments 
received  are  on  account  of  the  entire  fee. 

6.  The   Oioner's   Decisions. — The   Owner   shall   give   thorough   con- 
sideration   to    all    sketches,    drawings,    specifications,    proposals,    con- 
tracts, and  other  documents  laid  before  him  by  the  Architect  and,  when- 
ever prompt  action  is  necessary,  he  shall  inform  the  Architect  of  hia 
decisions   in   such   reasonable   time   as   not   to   delay   the   work   of   the 
Architect  nor  to  prevent  him  from  giving  drawings  or  instructions  to 
contractors   in  due  season. 

7.  Survey,  Borings,  and  Tests. — The  Owner  shall  furnish  the  Archi- 
tect with  a  complete  and  accurate  survey  of  the  building  site,  giving 
the  grades  and   lines  of  streets,  pavements,   and  adjoining  properties; 
the    rights,    restrictions,    easements,    boundaries,    and    contours    of    the 
building  site,  and  full  information  as  to  sewer,  water,  gas,  and  electrical 
service.    The  Owner  is  to  pay  for  borings  or  tests  pits  and  for  chemical, 
mechanical,  or  other  tests  when  required. 


256  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

8.  Supervision  of  the  Work. — The  Architect  will  endeavor  to  guard 
the  Owner  against  defects  and  deficiencies  in  the  work  of  contractors, 
but  he  does  not  guarantee  the  performance  of  their  contracts.     The 
supervision  of  an  architect  is  to  be  distinguished  from  the  continuous 
personal  superintendence  to  be  obtained  by  the  employment  of  a  clerk- 
of-the-works. 

When  authorized  by  the  Owner,  a  clerk-of-the-works  acceptable  to 
both  Owner  and  Architect  shall  be  engaged  by  the  Architect  at  a 
salary  satisfactory  to  the  Owner  and  paid  by  the  Owner,  upon  pres- 
entation of  the  Architect's  monthly  certificates. 

9.  Preliminary  Estimates. — When   requested  to  do  so,  the  Archi- 
tect will  make  or  procure  preliminary  estimates   on  the  cost  of  the 
work  and  he  will  endeavor  to  keep  the  actual  cost  of  the  work  as  low 
as  may  be  consistent  with  the  purpose  of  the  building  and  with  proper 
workmanship   and   material,    but   no    estimate   made   before   the    com- 
pletion   of    working   drawings   and   specifications   can   be   regarded  as 
other  than  an  approximation. 

10.  Definition  of  the  Cost  of  the  Work. — The  words  "  the  cost  of 
the  work  "  as  used  in  Article  2  hereof  are  ordinarily  to  be  interpreted 
as  meaning  the  total  of  the  contract  sums  incurred  for  the  execution  of 
the  work,  not  including  Architect's  and  Engineer's  fees,  or  the  salary 
of  the  clerk-of-the-works,  but  in  certain  rare  cases,  e.  g.,  when  labor 
or  material  is  furnished  by  the  Owner  below  its  market  cost  or  when 
old  materials  are  re-used,  the  cost  of  the  work  is  to  be  interpreted  as 
the  cost  of  all  materials  and  labor  necessary  to  complete  the  work,  as 
such  cost  would  have  been  if  all  materials  had  been  new  and  if  all 
labor  had  been  fully  paid  at  market  prices  current  when  the  work  was 
ordered,  plus  contractor's  profits  and  expenses. 

11.  Ownership  of  Documents. — Drawings  and  specifications  as  in- 
struments of  service  are  the  property  of  the  Architect  whether  the  work 
for  which  they  are  made  be  executed  or  not. 

12.  Successors  and  Assignment. — The  Owner  and  the  Architect,  each 
binds  himself,  his  successors,  executors,  administrators,  and  assigns  to 
the  other  party  to  this  agreement,   and  to  the  successors,  executors, 
administrators,  and  assigns  of  such  other  party  in  respect  of  all  the 
covenants  of  this  Agreement. 

The  Architect  shall  have  the  right  to  join  with  him  in  the  per- 
formance of  this  agreement,  any  architect  or  architects  with  whom  he 
may  in  good  faith  enter  into  general  partnership  relations.  In  case 
of  the  death  or  disability  of  one  or  more  partners,  the  rights  and 
duties  of  the  Architect,  if  a  firm,  shall  devolve  upon  the  remaining 
partner  or  partners  or  upon  such  firm  as  may  be  established  by  him  or 
them,  and  he,  they  or  it  shall  be  recognized  as  the  "  successor "  of 
the  Architect,  and  so  on  until  the  service  covered  by  the  agreement  has 


ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT  257 

been  performed.  The  Owner  shall  have  the  same  rights,  but  in  his 
case  no  limitation  as  to  the  vocation  of  those  admitted  to  partnership 
is  imposed. 

Except  as  above,  neither  the  Owner  nor  the  Architect  shall  assign, 
sublet  or  transfer  his  interest  in  this  agreement  without  the  written  con- 
sent of  the  other. 

13.  Arbitration. — All  questions  in  dispvte  under  this  Agreement 
shall  be  submitted  to  arbitration  at  the  choice  of  either  party.  The 
general  procedure  shall  conform  to  the  laws  of  the  State  in  which  the 
work  is  to  be  erected,  and  wherever  permitted  by  law  the  decision  of 
the  arbitrators  may  be  filed  in  court  to  carry  it  into  effect. 

The  parties  may  agree  upon  one  arbitrator;  otherwise  there  shall 
be  three,  one  named  in  writing  by  each  party  and  the  third  chosen 
by  these  two  arbitrators,  or  if  they  fail  to  select  a  third  within  ten 
days  he  shall  be  chosen  by  the  presiding  officer  of  the  Bar  Association 
nearest  to  the  location  of  the  work.  Should  the  party  demanding 
arbitration  fail  to  name  an  arbitrator  within  ten  days  of  his  demand, 
his  right  to  arbitration  shall  lapse.  Should  the  other  party  fail  to 
choose  an  arbitrator  within  the  said  ten  days,  then  such  presiding 
officer  shall  appoint  such  arbitrator.  Should  either  party  refuse  or 
neglect  to  supply  the  arbitrators  with  any  papers  or  information 
demanded  in  writing,  the  arbitrators  are  empowered  by  both  parties  to 
proceed  ex  parte. 

If  there  be  one  arbitrator  his  decision  shall  be  binding;  if  three, 
the  decision  of  any  two  shall  be  binding  and  such  decision  shall  be  a 
condition  precedent  to  any  right  of  legal  action.  The  arbitrators  shall  fix 
their  own  compensation,  unless  otherwise  provided  by  agreement,  and 
shall  assess  the  costs  and  charges  of  the  arbitration  upon  either  or 
both  parties.  The  award  of  the  arbitrators  must  be  in  writing  and, 
if  in  writing,  shall  not  be  open  to  objection  on  account  of  the  form 
of  the  proceedings  or  the  award. 

The  Owner  and  the  Architect  hereby  agree  to  the  full  performance 
of  the  covenants  contained  herein. 

IN  WITNESS  WHEREOF  they  have  hereunto  set  their  hands  and 
seals,  the  day  and  year  first  above  written. 

Certain  percentages  have  been  standardised  as  mini- 
mums  which  the  architect  should  accept,  and  these,  in 
all  cases,  are  not  included  in  the  estimate,  which  is 
understood  to  represent  the  total  cost  in  labour,  mate- 
rials and  equipment  required  to  erect  a  given  building 
in  full  accordance  with  specifications  and  drawings  pre- 


258  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

pared  for  that  building.  No  travelling  expenses  for  the 
architect  or  his  superintendent  are  included  in  the  per- 
centage commission,  as  these  might  well  consume  an 
undue  proportion  at  no  profit  whatever  to  the  architect, 
who  is  giving  his  time  as  well,  in  accordance  with  the 
contract. 

The  minimum  percentage  required  by  the  American 
Institute  of  Architects  to  be  charged  by  Institute  mem- 
bers for  general  residential  work  is  6  per  cent.,  while 
factories,  loft-buildings,  city  buildings  of  any  type,  and 
alterations,  in  city  or  country,  are  usually  undertaken 
at  10  per  cent,  of  the  estimated  cost  of  the  work. 

Advice  regarding  supervision  is  a  little  difficult  to 
give  in  definite  terms,  because  circumstances  vary.  If 
a  building  is  being  erected  by  a  reliable  contractor, 
with  whom  the  architect  has  had  previous  satisfactory 
dealings,  less  supervision  is  necessary  than  in  a  case 
in  which  the  architect  does  not  feel  it  to  be  entirely 
safe  to  entrust  too  many  delicate  details  to  a  contractor 
with  whose  work  he  is  unfamiliar.  Also,  simple 
11  standard"  types  of  building  require  comparatively 
little  supervision  on  the  part  of  the  architect,  because 
there  is  little  which  can  "go  wrong,"  and  travelling 
expenses  (if  any)  to  the  work,  might  well  prove  an 
unnecessary  addition  to  the  total  cost. 

There  are  buildings,  however,  which  call  for  minute, 
careful  and  almost  constant  supervision  on  the  part  of 
the  architect — especially  as  the  work  progresses  and 
the  finished  portions  are  being  carried  out.  For  such 
work  the  architect  may  well  be  justified  in  asking  more 
than  the  minimum  commission,  and  the  client  should 
rightly  expect  to  pay  it.  He  is  requiring  something  a 
little  better,  or  a  great  deal  better,  than  the  ordinary, 
and  should  be  prepared  to  pay  a  little  more  for  it,  just 


ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT  259 

as  he  would  in  any  transaction  other  than  an  architec- 
tural one.  A  man  who  has  an  important  law  matter  on 
hand,  or  an  important  operation,  will  seek  a  lawyer  or  a 
surgeon  of  high  standing  and  high  reputation,  and  will 
realise,  in  so  doing,  that  he  will  be  asked  to  pay  a 
larger  fee.  This  he  should  reckon  upon  beforehand,  and 
take  fully  into  advisement  with  himself. 

It  is  very  difficult  for  the  average  client  to  be  able  to 
determine,  intelligently  and  fairly,  whether  or  not  the 
architect  is  giving  work  in  progress  a  sufficient  amount 
of  personal  supervision.  The  architect,  often  openly 
accused  of  neglect,  is  in  reality  saving  his  client  a 
volume  of  unnecessary  charge  for  travelling  expense, 
and,  if  he  is  in  all  other  respects  an  architect  of  integrity 
and  reliability,  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  he  is  the  best 
judge  of  the  amount  of  supervision  the  work  will  re- 
quire. After  all,  it  should  be  remembered  that  the 
architect's  reputation  is  at  stake,  not  only  in  the  design 
of  the  house,  for  which  he  is  directly  responsible,  but 
for  the  contractor's  part  of  the  work,  for  which  he  is 
indirectly  responsible.  It  stands  to  reason,  therefore, 
that  the  architect  will  not  wittingly  allow  a  contractor 
to  erect  a  monument  which  will  reflect  upon  his  profes- 
sional ability,  and  much  of  the  client's  apprehension 
regarding  insufficient  supervision  may  well  be  allayed 
by  this  reflection. 

Before  entering  into  a  more  or  less  detailed  con- 
sideration of  the  drawings  and  specifications,  it  may 
be  well  to  ascertain  exactly  what  relation  the  contractor 
bears  to  the  whole  building  transaction,  and  what  rela- 
tion he  bears  to  the  client. 

In  usual  procedure,  the  architect  invites  two,  three 
or  more  contractors  to  tender  estimates,  or  bids,  on  a 
proposed  building,  these  bids  to  be  based  on  absolutely 


260  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

uniform  data  given  to  each  bidder  in  the  form  of  dupli- 
cate specifications  and  duplicate  blue-prints.  The 
client  may  know  nothing  of  these  contractors — usually 
they  are  contractors  of  good  local  reputation  in  the 
vicinity  in  which  the  building  is  to  be  erected,  or  with 
whom  the  architect  has  had  previous  satisfactory 
dealings. 

When  the  bids  have  been  received,  sealed,  they  are 
formally  opened,  perhaps  in  the  presence  of  the  client. 
In  the  case  of  important  public  buildings,  in  which  large 
expenditures  of  money  are  involved,  it  is  obvious  that 
the  greatest  formality  and  impartiality  be  observed,  and 
that  no  bidder  be  aware  of  any  of  his  competitors'  esti- 
mates before  all  the  sealed  bids  have  been  handed  in. 
The  degree  of  formality  to  be  observed  in  the  bids  for  a 
private  house  may  well  be  left  to  the  discretion  of 
architect  and  client. 

Several  bids,  then,  are  placed  before  the  client,  who, 
if  wise,  will  accept  the  estimate  recommended  by  the 
architect,  who  is  in  a  far  better  position  to  judge  of  the 
ability  and  integrity  of  the  competing  contractors  than 
is  the  client.  By  no  means  should  the  client  feel  im- 
pelled to  accept  the  lowest  bid,  for  reasons  which  should 
be  obvious. 

If  one  bid  is  far  lower  than  all  others,  it  is  safe  to 
assume  several  things  which  are  detrimental  to  that 
bidder.  It  may  be  that  he  is  an  inexperienced  and 
impractical  man,  who  has  figured  "low"  on  everything 
through  lack  of  familiarity  with  costs,  or  an  undue 
'desire  to  secure  the  work.  Or,  in  some  cases,  a  very 
low  bid  is  put  in  by  an  unscrupulous  contractor  who, 
also  unduly  desirous  of  securing  the  work,  is  figuring 
his  profit  through  the  fraudulent  substitution  of  infe- 
rior materials,  or  the  employment  of  cheap  labour,  or 


ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT  261 

both.  And,  in  any  building,  cheap  and  poor  workman- 
ship is  dear  at  any  price.  The  client,  therefore,  should 
not  be  surprised  if  the  architect  pays  little  or  no  atten- 
tion to  the  very  low  bids,  but  weighs  the  merits  of  the 
medium,  or  the  medium  high  bid. 

A  cautious  contractor,  who  is  figuring  on  carrying 
out  the  architect's  specifications  to  the  letter,  and  on 
employing  only  the  most  skilled  labour,  will  naturally 
tender  a  fairly  high,  perhaps  a  very  high  bid,  and  if  the 
client  can  afford  it,  he  may  do  well  to  accept  it  in  prefer- 
ence even  to  the  medium  low  bid.  He  is  building,  per- 
haps, but  once,  and  will  find  years  of  satisfaction  in  a 
well-built  house.  In  any  case,  the  architect  again,  is 
the  client's  best  advisor.  He  may  point  to  one  bid  and 
recommend  it  in  preference  to  all  others,  because  he 
knows  from  past  dealings  that  the  contractor  who  sub- 
mitted it  is  thoroughly  reliable,  and  will  turn  over  a 
perfectly  satisfactory  house,  honestly  and  carefully 
built. 

The  relationship  between  owner  and  contractor  is 
purely  a  business  one,  and  is  concluded  (excepting 
for  payments  as  the  work  progresses)  when  both  parties 
have  signed  the  "  Standard  Form  of  Agreement  Be- 
tween Owner  and  Contractor" — a  form  carefully  pre- 
pared, like  the  Standard  Owner-Architect  agreement, 
by  the  American  Institute  of  Architects.  Under  no 
circumstances,  however,  should  a  client  go  out  "on  the 
job"  and  give  direct  instructions  to  the  contractor,  or 
to  any  of  his  foremen  or  superintendents.  At  most,  he 
may  mention  certain  things  which  he  wishes  the  con- 
tractor to  take  up  with  the  architect,  though  even  this  is 
unwise  and  is  much  better  not  done. 

If  the  client  sees  any  work  which  he  considers  not  in 
accordance  with  the  specifications,  or  sees  anything 


262  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

which  he  wishes  altered  or  done  differently,  let  him 
make  notes  on  it,  and  take  these  up  with  the  architect. 
Instructions  to  the  contractor,  given  over  the  architect 's 
head,  and  without  the  architect's  knowledge,  are  a 
reflection  on  his  ability  and  a  grievous  confusion  to  all 
concerned.  The  contractor  himself  would  far  rather 
receive  his  instructions  direct  from  the  architect,  and 
from  no  one  else,  because  it  is  the  architect  to  whom  he 
is  directly  responsible.  Only  in  a  most  serious  case, 
and  one  in  which  the  client  is  very  sure  of  his  knowledge, 
is  it  well  for  him  to  order  work  stopped  on  all  or  any 
part  of  the  building  until  the  architect  can  appear  on  the 
scene.  Usually  this  procedure  is  only  officious  inter- 
ference, seriously  hampering  the  work,  and  greatly 
annoying  and  affronting  the  architect,  because  in  most 
cases  the  client  lacks  the  professional  knowledge  which 
would  command  the  contractor's  respect,  or  would 
insure  intelligent  interference  with  the  work.  There 
will  always  be,  however,  the  officious  botanist  who  will 
tell  a  veteran  bricklayer  how  brick  should  be  layed,  or 
the  successful  doctor  who  will  tell  a  veteran  carpenter 
how  a  plank  should  be  ripped.  If  these  (possibly)  well- 
meaning  individuals  realised  that  they  appear  to  skilled 
workmen  as  ridiculous  as  they  imagine  they  appear 
wise,  they  would,  perhaps,  confine  their  advices  to  such 
subjects  as  they  were  more  versed  in. 

Regarding  material  or  workmanship  which  is  to  be 
condemned,  and  ordered  removed  and  replaced,  the 
architect  is  the  final  word,  as  is  duly  set  forth  in  the 
agreement  with  the  contractor,  and  in  the  written  gen- 
eral provisions  of  the  specifications,  which,  with  the 
drawings,  constitute  a  most  important  and  binding 
part  of  the  agreement.  Any  architect  will  be  glad  to 
afford  a  client  the  opportunity  to  read  carefully  some 


ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT  263 

previous  set  of  specifications,  in  which  he  may  perceive 
to  what  minute  details  of  workmanship,  materials  and 
equipment  the  contractor  is  bound.  Every  part  of  the 
work  is  specified  to  be  done  in  a  "thoroughly  work- 
manlike manner,"  and  a  preceding  clause  states  that  all 
workmanship  is  subject  to  approval  or  condemnation 
by  the  architect.  The  specifications  may  even  state 
exactly  how  many  nails  shall  be  driven  in  the  cross- 
bridging  under  the  floors — a  carefully  written  specifi- 
cation, indeed,  leaving  no  loophole  whatever  for  careless 
or  unconscientious  execution  on  the  part  of  the  con- 
tractor or  his  workmen. 

In  many  cases  there  are  sub-contracts,  which  it  is 
best  to  have  let  directly  by  the  architect.  A  "general 
contractor"  bidding  on  the  average  dwelling,  usually 
includes  in  his  estimate  the  entire  work — excavation, 
masonry,  carpentry,  plastering  and  painting,  while 
heating,  plumbing  and  electric  wiring  contracts  are 
usually  let  separately  by  the  architect,  his  selection  of 
a  sub-contractor  being  determined  on  estimates  based 
on  special  sets  of  duplicate  specifications  and  drawings, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  general  contract.  If  the  general 
contractor  is  letting  the  sub-contracts,  a  clause  in  the 
general  specifications  stipulates  that  the  architect  has 
the  power  to  reject  any  or  all  bids  so  received,  should 
he  have  reason  to  believe  that  any  of  the  sub-contractors 
was  undesirable.  Occasionally  the  architect  dispenses 
with  the  general  contractor,  and  sub-lets  direct  all  con- 
tracts, from  the  excavation  work  to  the  last  finished 
coat  of  paint,  though  this  procedure  is  not  usual.  The 
profit  of  the  general  contractor  is  saved,  but  it  is  ob- 
viously necessary  to  the  architect  to  appoint  a  super- 
intendent, and  to  give  the  work  much  closer  attention 
than  would  be  the  case  if  a  reliable  general  contractor 


264   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

were  responsible  for  the  work  of  all  the  sub-contractors. 

A  client  who  undertakes  to  sublet  contracts  himself 
is  ^storing  up  untold  trouble  for  himself  and  his  archi- 
tect, and  is,  in  fact,  in  the  same  class  with  the  man  who, 
being  his  own  lawyer,  ' l  has  a  fool  for  a  client. ' ' 

It  has  been  shown,  in  speaking  of  the  contractor,  in 
what  manner  the  specification  acts  as  a  detailed  con- 
tract. It  is,  in  fact,  one  of  the  most  important  instru- 
ments in  the  whole  transaction,  and  if  skilfully  and 
comprehensively  written,  will  insure  the  building  of  a 
house  in  exact  conformity  with  the  plans  and  intentions 
of  both  owner  and  architect. 

The  specifications  commence  with  certain  general 
provisions,  stating  the  authority  which  will  be  exercised 
by  the  architect  throughout  the  progress  of  the  work, 
and  stipulating  the  quality  of  workmanship  which  will 
be  required.  The  body  of  the  document  will  be  divided 
according  to  the  several  divisions  of  the  work,  into  sec- 
tions dealing  in  detail  with  excavation,  masonry,  car- 
1  penter  work,  plastering,  painting  and  so  forth,  specify- 
ing not  only  what  materials  shall  be  used,  but  in  what 
manner.  It  is  well  to  specify  materials  and  equipment 
by  actual  trade  names  and  numbers,  making  assurance 
doubly  sure  by  requiring  conformity  with  a  sample  "to 
be  furnished  by  the  architect. ' '  Thus,  a  certain  brick 
should  be  specified  by  name,  and  all  such  equipment  as 
•plumbing  and  lighting  fixtures,  steam  radiators  and 
hardware  should  be  specified  by  catalogue  number.  In 
this  way  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  virtually  no  possi- 
bility of  mistake  or  fraudulent  substitution. 

With  regard  to  the  architect's  recommendation  of 
certain  makes  or  qualities  of  material  or  equipment,  a 
correction  should  be  made  here  of  a  serious  miscon- 
ception of  the  architect's  function  which  is  sometimes 


ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT  265 

encountered.  There  are  people  who  suppose  that  an 
architect,  either  openly  or  surreptitiously,  receives  com- 
missions from  manufacturers  for  the  recommendation 
and  subsequent  use  of  materials  or  equipment.  Noth- 
ing could  be  more  erroneous,  or  a  more  unfounded 
reflection  on  a  high-standing  profession.  The  archi- 
tect is  only  a  professional  advisor.  His  recommen- 
dations are  entirely  impartial,  and  of  an  entirely 
professional  character,  his  only  remuneration  in  the 
entire  work  being  represented  by  his  percentage  com- 
mission on  the  estimated  cost  of  the  entire  building. 
The  drawings  required  in  the  erection  of  a  building 
will  vary  in  number  and  complexity  according  to  the 
nature  of  the  building,  but  will  consist,  in  general,  for 
all  buildings,  of : 

1.  The  preliminary  drawings. 

2.  The  working  drawings. 

a.  The  i/4-inch  scale  plans  and  elevations. 

b.  The  %-inch  (or  l^-inch)  scale  details. 

c.  The  full-size  details. 

Of  the  preliminaries,  mention  was  made  earlier  in 
this  chapter.  The  perspective  drawing  will  be  in  pencil, 
water-colour  or  pen-and-ink,  and  will  consist  of  a  pict- 
ure (sometimes,  be  it  said,  a  trifle  "  idealised")  of  the 
proposed  house.  The  preliminary  plans  may  be  a  part 
of  this  drawing,  blocked  in  in  miniature  merely  to  give 
an  idea  of  the  arrangement  of  the  rooms.  In  some 
cases  preliminary  drawings  will  include  ^-inch  scale 
plans  and  elevations,  the  careful  re-studying  of  which 
will  save  much  changing  of  the  subsequent  "working 
drawings."  English  architects  lavish  an  interesting 
amount  of  real  artistic  effort  upon  their  preliminaries, 
often  making  charming  colour-sketches  of  several  dif- 
ferent aspects  of  the  proposed  house,  as  well  as  of 


266  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

many  of  the  rooms.  Exigencies  of  practice  in  this  coun- 
try, however,  combined  with  American  impatience, 
make  such  elaboration  of  preliminaries  rare — indeed, 
the  average  American  client  would  expect  to  see  his 
house  completed,  or  would  be  seeking  another  architect 
before  the  English  preliminary  drawings  were  finished. 

The  first  of  the  working  drawings  to  be  considered 
are  the  ^-inch  scale  drawings,  so  called  because  they 
are  accurately  laid  out  with  14  inch  in  the  drawing 
equalling  one  foot  in  the  actual  building.  Each  quarter 
inch  is  regarded  as  being  composed  of  twelve  minute 
"inches,"  so  that  exact  proportions  may  be  shown  in 
these  drawings.  The  14 -inch  scale  drawings  include  all 
the  plans,  from  cellar  to  attic,  as  well  as  one  or  more 
sections  through  the  building,  and  all  four  of  its 
"elevations,"  or  aspects  as  viewed  from  each  of  its 
four  sides.  These  "elevations,"  the  architect  will 
explain,  do  not  depict  the  house  as  it  will  actually 
appear,  but  as  it  must  be  laid  out  for  the  builder. 
Roofs,  particularly,  in  working  elevations,  are  difficult 
for  many  clients  to  comprehend — but  here,  if  he  is  at  a 
loss,  he  may  be  assured  that  the  architect  is  able  to 
visualise  the  finished  building. 

The  working  plans,  perhaps,  are  more  understand- 
able, and  show  all  the  walls,  partitions,  doors  and  win- 
dows, as  well  as  outlets  for  lighting  fixtures,  location  of 
kitchen  and  bath-room  equipment,  and  all  other  essen- 
tials. In  addition  to  the  fact  that  these  are  accurately 
drawn  at  a  scale  of  14  inch  equalling  one  foot,  all  these 
plans  are  minutely  "figured"  to  avoid  any  danger  of 
error.  Different  materials  are  "indicated"  by  differ- 
ent kinds  of  shading,  and  many  notes  regarding  mate- 
rials, etc.,  may  appear  as  well,  supplementing  the 
specifications. 


REDUCED  REPRODUCTION  OF  AN  ACTUAL  "J-INCH  WORKING  DRAWING" 
After  the  approval  of  the  preliminary   sketches,  all  four  "elevations"  of  a  building,  as  well 
as  sections,  are   accurately   drawn  and  figured  to  a  J-inch  scale 


REDUCED  REPRODUCTION  OF  AN  ACTUAL  "J-IXCH  SCALE  WORKING 

DRAWING" 

The    J-inch    working    drawings  of  all   the  floor  plans  contain  all   the  principal  dimensions, 
as  well  as  much  detailed  information,  supplementing  the  language  of  the  specifications 


M  AV^.ft  C.H-V/-ETT 

T       -          PXIL  I.M  (  N  \R-.V       y   K  E  TCME. 


A  PRELIMINARY  DRAWING  FOR  A  VILLAGE  LIBRARY 
Illustrating  the  frequent  architectural  practice  of  presenting  a  coloured  perspec- 
tive tentative  plan  and  a  detail  of  some  special  feature  combined  in  one  drawing 


PORTION  OF  AN  ACTUAL   "i-INCH   SCALE   WORKING    DRAWING' 


PORTION  OF  AN  ACTUAL  "J-INCH  SCALE  WORKING  DRAWING" 
After  the  approval  of  the  preliminary  sketches,  all  plans  and  "elevations" 
are  accurately  laid  out  to  scale  and  "figured,"  with  J  inch  in  the  drawing 
equalling  one  actual  foot  in  the  proposed  building 


ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT  267 

These  working  drawings  are  usually  done  in  black 
ink  on  semi-transparent  linen  tracing  cloth,  both  be- 
cause the  durability  of  this  substance  will  sustain  many 
erasures  and  changes,  and  because  its  transparency 
permits  of  a  clear  blue-print.  Obviously,  these  orig- 
inal drawings,  representing  much  time  and  study,  must 
remain  for  safety  in  the  architect's  office,  while  the 
client,  the  contractor,  the  sub-contractors,  and  possibly 
a  local  building  department  will  require  copies. 

These  copies  are  printed  in  exactly  the  same  way 
that  a  photographic  negative  is  printed,  so  that  the 
black  lines  in  the  tracing  print  white,  while  the  ground 
of  the  paper  tones  blue — and  produces  a  "blue-print." 
And  whatever  mischance  or  damage  may  befall  a  set 
of  blue-prints  "on  the  job,"  the  original  ink  drawings 
on  tracing  cloth  are  safely  filed  in  the  architect 's  office, 
easily  to  be  reprinted  in  any  number  of  sets  of  blue- 
prints which  may  be  required. 

From  the  dimensions  worked  out  and  determined 
in  the  ^-inch  scale  drawings,  there  are  developed  the 
%-inch  scale  details,  which  show  (at  three  times  the  size 
of  the  i/^-inch  drawings,  with  ^4-inch  equalling  one 
foot)  such  details  as  mantel-pieces,  stairways,  panel- 
ling and  the  like.  These  scale  details  are  sometimes 
drawn  at  a  larger  scale,  in  which  1^  inches  equals  one 
foot,  especially  if  it  is  necessary  to  show  any  carving 
or  elaborate  woodwork.  With  these  drawings,  the 
work  proceeds,  and  during  its  progress,  the  architect 
works  out  such  full-size  details  as  may  be  required. 
His  obligation  in  this  respect  is  rather  vague  in  the. 
contract,  but  in  practice  an  architect  who  has  even  a 
slight  vestige  of  pride  in  his  finished  work,  will  of  his 
own  accord  make  all  the  full-size  details  which  are 
necessary  for  the  execution  of  the  work  according  to  his 


268  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

intentions.  These  drawings  show  mouldings,  profiles 
and  carving  at  actual  size,  and  are  often  the  most  inter- 
esting drawings,  from  a  draughtsman's  point  of  view, 
which  come  from  an  architect's  office.  They  are  drawn 
on  heavy  brown  paper,  and  though  occasionally  sent  out 
"on  the  job,"  the  careful  architect  prefers  to  have  a 
draughtsman  make  tracings,  so  that  the  originals  may 
remain  in  his  office. 

Obviously  the  merit  of  a  building,  in  point  of  detail, 
will  depend  very  largely  on  the  number  of  full-size 
detail  drawings  prepared  by  the  architect,  since  these 
drawings  are  as  nearly  as  he  can  arrive  at  actually 
executing  the  work  with  his  own  hands. 

It  will  readily  be  appreciated  that  the  full-size  de- 
tails for  such  a  building  as  a  public  library  or  a  state 
capitol  must  entail  an  enormous  amount  of  work  on  the 
part  of  the  architect — a  labour  which  the  lay  observer 
naturally  has  never  paused  to  reflect  upon,  when  he 
has  gazed,  even  intelligently,  upon  some  great  elaborate 
fa§ade  or  imposing  interior. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  architect's  procedure,  often 
viewed  with  fluctuations  of  interest,  admiration,  bewil- 
derment, misgiving  or  plain  uncomprehension  by  the 
client.  Some  architects,  perhaps,  trained  for  years  to 
"read"  architectural  drawings  are  a  little  impatient 
with  clients  who  entirely  fail  to  follow  the  carefully 
designed  lines  they  see  before  them.  Let  them  remem- 
ber, however,  that  these  lines  which  they  see  are  the 
result  of  many  hours  and  many  days  of  painstaking 
study  and  re-study  backed  by  years  of  experience,  and 
that  their  doctor  does  not  outline  the  steps  by  which  he 
has  arrived  at  a  diagnosis.  This  is  professional  work, 
to  be  thoroughly  understood  and  appreciated  only  by 
a  fellow-professional. 


j*ETi0N  of 


PORTION  OF  AX  ACTUAL  "FULL-SIZE   DKTAIL"  DRAWING 

It  is  customary  for  the  architect  to  prepare  full-size  detail  drawings  for  all  work  of  special 
character,  either  exterior  or  interior 


ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT  269 

Nor  do  the  drawings  show,  to  the  lay  inspection, 
the  thought  and  study  which  have  gone  into  the  devising 
of  an  easy,  comfortable  staircase,  or  into  adding  eigh- 
teen inches  to  the  width  of  an  upstairs  hall  or  working 
in  an  extra  guest-room.  These  things  are  worked  out 
over  the  draughting  table,  these  and  many  other  things, 
unseen  and  unappreciated  because  they  only  go  to  make 
the  whole  plan  more  convenient,  the  whole  finished 
house  a  more  agreeable  abode.  Some  unfortunate  feat- 
ure, however,  is  usually  noticed  at  once,  and  enlarged 
upon,  albeit  it  may  have  resulted  from  some  insistence 
of  the  client  upon  a  room-arrangement  or  disposition 
of  the  stairway  which  the  architect  had  pled  in  vain 
to  change. 

The  foregoing  paragraphs  may  seem  to  have  ignored 
the  incompetent  architect — to  assume,  in  fact,  that  all 
architects  are  paragons  of  wisdom  and  ability,  uni- 
versally abused  and  maltreated  by  a  stupid  and  unap- 
preciative  idiot  designated  a  "client."  It  should  go 
without  saying,  however,  that  there  are  incompetent 
architects,  just  as  there  are  incompetent  doctors  and 
lawyers.  They  are  to  be  avoided,  and  seldom  come  to 
one  properly  recommended,  or  accredited  by  previous 
good  work.  The  selection  of  such  should  certainly  be 
taken  as  a  reflection  upon  the  judgment  of  the  client, 
or  at  least  as  occasion  for  commiserating  him — the 
professions  they  misrepresent  should  not  be  discred- 
ited. It  is  safe  to  say,  at  any  rate,  that  the  client  who 
knows  more  about  architecture  or  building  than  his 
architect  is  an  individual  so  rare  that  he  can  find  no 
place  in  a  discussion  so  necessarily  confined  to  the 
average  as  the  present  one — he  would  make,  indeed, 
an  interesting  character  for  a  work  of  fiction. 

A  word  might  be  interposed  here  about  a  breach  of 
business  etiquette  which  is  sometimes  committed  (often 


270   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

thoughtlessly)  by  a  client  in  asking  another  architect 
his  opinion  of  a  set  of  plans,  or  of  an  unfinished  house 
in  the  hands  of  his  acting  architect. 

No  architect  of  professional  standing,  or  with  the 
slightest  regard  to  professional  ethics,  would  dream 
of  expressing  any  opinion,  any  more  than  would  a 
doctor  or  a  lawyer,  without  cognisance  and  consent  of 
the  acting  professional.  This  point  is  covered  in  the 
Canon  of  Ethics  of  the  American  Institute  of  Architects. 

Unless  a  certain  amount  of  diplomacy  and  tact  be 
exercised  by  the  client,  a  little  professional  clash  may 
arise  between  architect  and  interior  decorator,  and  not 
entirely  without  cause. 

The  architect  recognises  the  fact  that  a  landscape 
architect  is  a  specialist  with  a  distinct  status,  like  a 
structural  engineer,  working  with  architects  in  profes- 
sional channels  of  a  non-conflicting  nature.  The  inte- 
rior decorator,  however,  the  architect  naturally  regards 
as  an  interloper,  especially  if  the  decorator  is  commis- 
sioned to  carry  out  important  interiors  calling  for  elab- 
orate panelling  and  the  like.  It  is  only  natural  that  the 
architect  should  feel  himself  to  be  as  good  an  authority 
as  anyone  on  the  treatment  of  interiors  in  a  house  which 
he  has  designed  himself.  He  is  willing  enough  for  the 
decorator  to  select  furniture,  fabrics,  tapestries  and  all 
decorative  accessories,  but  his  disappointment  is  often 
acute  and  genuine,  and  not  at  all  mercenary,  when  he 
finds  that  all  the  most  important  and  interesting  inte- 
riors (for  which  he  had  definite  architectural  ideas) 
are  taken  out  of  his  hands  and  out  of  his  contract. 

The  only  procedure  for  the  client  who  is  desirous  of 
a  harmonious  relation  between  architect  and  decorator 
is  to  tell  the  architect  at  the  very  start  that  certain 
rooms  are  to  be  carried  out  by  a  certain  decorator. 
The  architect,  then,  will  make  his  plans  accordingly,  and 


ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT  271 

expend  no  time  or  expense  in  studies  or  drawings  of 
those  rooms.  He  may  secretly  resent  the  implied  supe- 
riority of  the  decorator  (which  may  be  real  or  imag- 
inary) but  he  will  not  feel  as  badly  about  the  intrusion 
as  though  it  were  suddenly  broken  to  him  at  an  advanced 
stage  of  his  work  on  the  house.  It  should  be  remem- 
bered, too,  that  many  architects  have  attained  con- 
spicuous reputations  as  interior  decorators,  designing 
special  furniture,  selecting  antiques,  and  proving  them- 
selves connoisseurs  of  tapestries,  and  the  like,  all  for 
their  client 's  benefit. 

With  due  appreciation  of  the  points  presented  in 
this  chapter,  bearing  upon  the  relationship  between  the 
architect  and  his  client,  it  might  safely  be  asserted  that 
the  reader,  if  a  prospective  builder,  may  be  piloted  over 
the  shoals  of  indecision  and  misgiving,  and  may  be 
enabled  to  steer  a  nice  course  between  undue  ignorance 
of  his  architect's  work  on  the  one  hand,  and  undue  sus- 
picion of  his  architect's  ability  and  motives  on  the 
other  hand. 

It  remains  only  to  mention  a  few  points  of  procedure 
in  the  relationship  of  architects  with  large  building  un- 
dertakings. Here,  at  the  outset,  the  relationship  begins, 
proceeds  and  terminates  strictly  on  a  business  basis. 
The  client  is  a  powerful  business  man,  or  is  represented 
by  a  corporation,  a  municipality,  a  railroad  or  a  build- 
ing committee.  Here,  if  anything,  the  architect  is  put 
to  it  to  outdo  his  client  in  business-like  procedure. 
Every  step  of  the  work,  from  the  publication  of  the  com- 
petition program  to  the  last  payment  to  the  selected 
architect  goes  forward  with  the  utmost  formality. 
Formality,  indeed,  in  the  form  of  endless  meetings  and 
conferences,  often  clogs  the  wheels  of  progress,  and 
finds  the  architect  impatiently  awaiting  the  word  of 
some  great  "board"  to  proceed  with  his  part  of  the 


272  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

work.  The  issuance  of  invitations  to  bid  on  a  State 
Capitol,  for  instance,  is  a  serious  matter,  attended  by 
great  formality,  and  the  acceptance  of  a  bid  no  less  so. 

The  architect's  work  is  large  and  complex  in  pro- 
portion to  the  size  and  complexity  of  the  building  he 
has  been  selected  to  design. 

The  "preliminaries,"  in  the  case  of  the  large  com- 
petition, are  usually  called  the  "pro jet"  drawings,  in 
memory  of  student  days  in  the  ateliers  of  the  Ecole  des 
Beaux  Arts  in  Paris,  where  each  elaborate  problem  was 
a  projet.  These  competition  drawings  are  often  unbe- 
lievably elaborate  and  enormously  expensive  for  the 
architect  to  produce.  Usually  he  is  remunerated  for 
the  actual  cost,  though  in  most  cases  he  expends  con- 
siderably more  than  he  receives,  if  unsuccessful.  He  is 
playing  for  big  stakes,  however,  and  makes  an  effort 
proportionally. 

As  stated  in  an  earlier  chapter,  the  subject  of  the 
proper  conduct  of  large  and  important  competitions  has 
been  given  weighty  and  detailed  consideration  by  the 
American  Institute  of  Architects,  and  their  conclusions 
are  duly  set  forth  in  a  special  document  issued  by  that 
body. 

His  projet  accepted,  the  architect  must  maintain  a 
large  staff  of  good  draughtsmen  to  carry  out  the  endless 
drawings  required.  He  must  have  a  competent  super- 
intendent and  other  assistants  in  the  work. 

As  in  a  small  country  house,  the  work  proceeds 
through  the  14-inch  scale  drawings,  to  %-  or  1^-inch 
details  and  sections,  until  the  stage  of  full-size  detail 
drawing  is  reached. 

Here,  however,  the  full-size  details  of  all  carved 
work  do  not  go  to  the  workmen  "on  the  job,"  but  to 
a  professional  "architectural  modeller,"  who  prepares 
full-size  models  of  all  capitols,  modillions,  consoles  and 


.1    -In       l;r- 


cll  Pope,  Architect 

PROJET  FOR  A  NATIONAL  MEMORIAL  MONUMENT 
One  of  a  set  of  remarkable  drawings  presented  in  competition 


ARCHITECT  AND  CLIENT  273 

ornamented  mouldings  and  all  other  detail  of  like 
nature,  and  these  full  size  models,  after  change  and  final 
approval  by  the  architect,  go  to  wood-carvers,  stone- 
carvers  and  metal  founders,  together  with  the  drawings, 
so  that  no  mistakes  may  occur  in  execution.  Owing  to 
the  importance  of  the  work  involved  on  a  large  building, 
the  various  sub-contractors,  such  as  marble  workers, 
wood-workers  and  bronze-casters,  send  reliable  men  of 
their  own  to  take  minute  measurements  of  the  building, 
as  it  progresses,  so  that  they  may  be  positive  of  the 
dimensions  to  which  they  are  working  the  several  parts 
entrusted  to  them,  and  which  are  being  executed  in 
different  mills  and  stone  yards  miles  from  the  build- 
ing itself. 

And  it  is  a  marvellous  tribute  to  the  painstaking 
accuracy  of  draughtsmen  and  artisans  to  see  with  what 
perfect  exactitude  various  members  of  marble,  wood, 
bronze  and  other  materials,  assembled  from  different 
shops,  will  fit  together  * '  on  the  job, ' '  each  in  its  designed 
place. 

Here,  too,  in  the  carrying  out  of  plans  for  a  great 
building,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  architect  is 
not  simply  a  free-lance  " designer,"  netting  an  enor- 
mous fee.  He  is  under  tremendous  expense  in  getting 
out  the  drawings  and  providing  adequate  supervision, 
and  as  he  is,  in  a  sense,  the  steward  of  considerable 
expenditures,  he  must  have  an  expert  accountant  to 
check  bills,  handle  his  pay-roll,  and  render  to  his  client 
accurate  and  businesslike  financial  statements  at  any 
time  he  may  be  required. 

Notwithstanding  which,  there  are  many  architects 
who  would  say  that  they  could  build  a  state  capitol  or  a 
public  library  with  far  less  personal  harassment  and 
annoyance  than  they  would  experience  in  building  an 
$8000  cottage  for  a  captious  client. 


CHAPTER  III 
MATERIALS  AND  CONSTRUCTION 

CONSIDERATION  OF  PHYSICAL  AND  .ESTHETIC  PROPERTIES  OF 
BUILDING  MATERIALS.  NATURES,  SUITABILITY,  COM- 
PARATIVE COSTS,  ETC.,  OF  BUILDING  MATERIALS.  THE 
IMPORTANCE  OF  TEXTURE.  ASSOCIATED  SUITABILITY  OF 
MATERIALS  AND  STYLES 

COMMON  observation  has  acquainted  us  with  the 
fact  that  there  is  quite  a  variety  of  building 
materials,  but  tie  prospective  builder  is  naturally  at  a 
loss  to  compare  them  one  with  another  in  a  knowing 
manner.  All  building  materials,  he  knows,  have  cer- 
tain physical,  architectural  and  aesthetic  properties, 
and  in  the  choice  of  any  one  he  knows  there  are  involved 
certain  economic  considerations  as  well. 

The  question  of  choice,  happily,  is  not  untram- 
meled,  but  is  in  fact  actually  limited.  The  greatest 
confusion,  perhaps,  results  from  ideas  not  clearly 
visualised,  and  satisfaction  in  the  ultimate  choice  should 
be  reasonably  certain  of  attainment  if  the  prospective 
builder  saw  each  material,  with  its  exact  properties, 
unshrouded  by  the  veil  of  complexity,  mystery  and 
unfamiliarity. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  chapter,  then,  to  establish 
certain  specific  premises,  and  to  tabulate  materials 
(with  types  of  construction  involved)  in  a  manner  which 
shall  be  at  once  definite  and  clear. 

The  following  materials,  involving  differing  methods 
of  construction,  will  be  dealt  with  in  a  necessarily  brief 
manner,  yet  with  a  degree  of  lucidity  which  may  aid  the 
prospective  builder  in  defining  his  ideas  in  this 
connection. 


MATERIALS  AND  CONSTRUCTION  275 

TABLE  A 

1.  The  frame  house:   Shingle-covered. 

2.  The  frame  house:  Clapboard-covered. 

3.  The  frame  house:   With  stucco  on  wire-lath. 

4.  The  hollow  tile  house   (stucco-covered). 
6.  The  brick  house. 

6.  The  stone  house  (rough-dressed  stone). 

7.  The  actual  half-timber  house. 

In  discussing  these  several  types  of  house,  it  may  aid 
the  end  of  clearness  to  show  in  tabulated  form  the  more 
important  aspects  under  which  any  material  may  well 
be  considered. 

There  are,  in  the  first  place,  certain  restrictions  in 
choice,  which  we  will  tabulate. 

TABLE  B 

1.  Restriction  of  inherent  cost. 

2.  Cost  restriction  due  to  locality:   material  locally  unobtainable,  and 

expensive  to  transport. 

3.  Style   restriction,   due  to  unsuitability   of  a  given   material   for  the 

expression  of  style  desired. 

The  several  considerations  under  which  building 
materials  tabulated  are  interdependent  and  closely  in- 
terrelated, will  be  seen  in  the  following  table : 

TABLE  C 

(  a.  Character 

1.  Physical     properties    of    mate-  1 

•  -<  b.  Durability 

rials j        .  ,     ,   ,  .... 

I  c.  Adaptability 

2.  Properties    both     physical    and  f  a-  Texture 

aesthetic  |  b.  Colour 

(  a.  Stylistic  suitability 

3    ^Esthetic  or  architectural  prop-  \        T  J  .,..,.. 

J  b.  Local  suitability 

erties  of  materials j       _, 

/  c.  Expressiveness 

a.  Inherent  cost 

,  6.  Comparative  cost 

4.  Economic    properties    of    mate-   J 

/  c.  Local  availability 

d.  Workability,  or  structural  cost 
c.  Upkeep 


276  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

If  the  properties  listed  above  be  applied  carefully 
and  thoughtfully  to  any  building  project,  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  all  essential  conditions  governing  choice  of 
material  will  have  come  under  due  consideration.  With 
a  view  to  keeping  the  study  of  materials  as  clear  as 
possible,  the  above  tables  will  be  used  as  the  basis  of 
the  detailed  discussion  in  the  following  paragraphs. 

The  types  of  construction,  with  associated  material, 
listed  in  Table  A,  will  be  found  to  cover  virtually  all 
typical  country  residences,  omitting  reference  to  build- 
ings which  call  for  much  carved  or  dressed  stone  work, 
either  in  the  entire  fabric,  or  in  a  brick  house  with 
carved  stone  trim.  Such  houses,  it  is  obvious,  fall  in 
the  class  of  highly  expensive  work,  and  cannot  safely 
be  spoken  of  in  terms  of  "  averages. " 

The  Table  B  will  illustrate  the  fact  that,  since  all 
materials  are  never  equally  available  in  any  one  place, 
and  that  since  all  materials  are  not  suitable  for  the 
architectural  expression  of  every  style,  a  certain 
amount  of  selection  in  the  matter  is  automatically  per- 
formed for  us  by  natural  elimination.  Initial  cost,  too, 
might  well  prove  the  decisive  factor. 

After  defining  the  several  properties  listed  in 
Table  C,  it  will  be  possible  to  apply  this  table,  individ- 
ually, to  each  of  the  types  of  building  enumerated  in 
Table  A,  considering  material  and  construction  as 
dually  inseparable. 

PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES  OF  MATERIALS 

By  character  in  a  building  material,  it  is  intended 
to  denote  certain  general  properties — to  direct  atten- 
tion to  such  questions  as  whether  or  not  a  given  mate- 
rial is,  or  appears,  heavy,  massive,  ponderous  or  clumsy 
for  a  given  purpose;  whether  it  is,  or  appears,  light, 


Albro  <fe  Lindelierg,  Architects 

A    CHARMING    STUDY    IN    THE   EXPRESSIVE    POSSIBILITIES   OF    BUILDING 

MATERIALS 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  the  decorative  quality  of  the  brick  .work,  resulting  from  the  use 
of  special  brick,  laid  up  with  wide  white  joints 


MATERIALS  AND  CONSTRUCTION  277 

insecure,  unstable.    Decision  here  is  a  matter  of  archi- 
tectural taste  and  architectural  judgment. 

Durability  should  require  no  definition,  but  is  an 
important  question  to  bear  in  mind  with  reference  to 
selection.  It  is  a  consideration  closely  associated  with 
that  of  upkeep,  or  maintenance,  as  an  economic  ques- 
tion. Adaptability  is  a  property  closely  cognate  with 
character,  and  is  intended  to  direct  thought  toward  the 
question  of  the  suitability  of  a  given  material  for  use 
in  a  given  design.  In  this  connection  it  should  be 
remembered  that  a  skilful  architect  is  capable  of  ren- 
dering the  same  set  of  plans,  the  same  house,  in  fact, 
in  entirely  different  materials.  One  of  the  illustrations 
shows  two  houses  built  from  the  same  set  of  plans,  one 
in  rough-dressed  ledge-stone,  the  other  in  rough-cast, 
or  stucco,  over  stone.  This  same  house  could  be  ren- 
dered, with  equal  charm  and  propriety  in  brick  or  in 
half -timber  construction,  but  not  as  agreeably  in  frame 
construction,  especially  if  covered  with  clapboards. 

PROPERTIES  OF  MATERIALS  BOTH  PHYSICAL,  AND  ^ESTHETIC 

One  of  the  most  important,  as  well  as  the  least 
appreciated,  properties  of  any  material  is  its  texture, 
which  is  a  property  both  physical,  or  inherent,  and 
SBsthetic,  or  to  be  regarded  as  a  factor  in  design  and 
style.  Not  many  years  ago  the  textures  of  building 
materials  were  not  only  unappreciated,  but  were 
absurdly  and  unnecessarily  disguised  or  simulated.  At 
a  dark  period  of  American  architecture,  the  good,  hon- 
est, interesting  texture  of  brick  was  disguised  beneath 
a  coat  of  paint.  Wood  and  cast-iron  were  " sanded" 
to  resemble  stone,  plaster  was  painted  to  resemble  mar- 
ble and  common  woods  were  * '  grained  ' '  to  counterfeit 
finer  woods. 


278  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

The  importance  of  texture  in  building  materials  will 
become  further  apparent  as  this  chapter  proceeds. 

Colour  in  building  materials  is  of  importance  equal 
to  texture,  and  keen  taste  and  judgment  in  this  direc- 
tion may  attain  results  which  may  make,  of  a  small 
and  inexpensive  house,  a  true  work  of  art.  In  the 
matter  of  colour,  an  architect  " paints"  a  picture  with 
building  materials  just  as  an  artist  paints  a  picture  with 
pigments — and  the  architect  of  artistic  ability  will 
consider  the  landscape  as  well  as  the  house  itself,  and 
create  a  whole  of  true  harmony. 

.^ESTHETIC  OK  ARCHITECTURAL  PROPERTIES  OF  MATERIALS 

Stylistic  suitability,  as  a  consideration,  is  largely 
self-explanatory.  Success  has  very  seldom  been  at- 
tained in  building  a  house  of  a  given  style  in  a  material 
not  characteristic  of  that  style.  Certain  styles  are  defi- 
nitely associated  with  certain  materials.  Spanish  and 
Italian  houses  are  of  stucco  and  tile,  with  incidental 
details  of  wrought  iron  work:  French  houses  of  the 
formal  type  are  of  cut  stone  and  slate,  or  of  brick 
and  cut  stone — and  so  through  many  styles  there  will 
be  found  certain  associated  uses  of  material.  In  the 
subsequent  detailed  discussion  of  the  types  of  building 
listed  in  Table  A,  lists  will  be  given  of  the  kinds  of 
house  which  may  properly  be  built  in  the  materials  and 
structural  methods  there  enumerated. 

Local  suitability,  as  emphasised  elsewhere  in  this 
book,  should  always  be  a  strong  factor  governing  choice, 
and  will  be  found  to  be  inseparably  bound  up  with  other 
considerations,  such  as  colour.  Local  materials,  gener- 
ally speaking,  are  always  to  be  preferred  to  those  which 
are  alien.  A  red  brick  house  on  a  grey  New  England 
seacoast  is  unpleasantly  conspicuous,  and  noticeably 


P.  Knickerbocker  l?i>vil.  Arrliiteot 


TWO  EXAMPLES  OF  TYPICAL  AMERICAN   USES  OF  BUILDING    MATERIALS 
Colloquial  uses  of  building  materials  have  developed  and  been  developed  by  such  informal 
traits  in  design  as  are  to  be  noted  in  the  two  houses  above 


Mellor  &  Meigs,  Architects 
AN  AMERICAN  EXPRESSION  OF  THE   MODERN  ENGLISH  COUNTRY  HOUSE 


Mellor  tt  JIt'igs,  Architects 

THE  SAME  HOUSE  CARRIED  OUT  IN  LOCAL  STONE  AND  HALF-TIMBER 

CONSTRUCTION 

It  is  seldom  that  a  building  designed  to  be  built  in  one  material  will  look  well  if  carried  cut  in 
another.  In  this  ease,  however,  both  types  of  material  are  suitable,  so  that  the  matter  may  be 
regarded  as  one  of  choice  rather  than  rule 


MATERIALS  AND  CONSTRUCTION  279 

"out  of  key"  with  its  neighbouring  houses  and  with  the 
whole  landscape. 

In  expressiveness  there  are  involved  all  considera- 
tions, aesthetic  and  architectural,  and  it  is  intended  by 
this  term  to  suggest  the  importance  of  giving  proper 
thought  to  all  the  qualifications  or  properties  of  any 
material  which  might  make  it  suitable  or  unsuitable 
as  a  choice  for  any  given  building.  Expressiveness  as 
an  aesthetic  property  is  closely  cognate  with  adaptabil- 
ity as  a  physical  property — though  the  second  might 
well  exist  without  the  full  existence  of  the  first. 

ECONOMIC  PEOPEETIES  OF  MATEKIALS 

Under  this  head  we  find  that  the  inherent  cost  of  a 
given  building  material  may  be  the  factor  dictating  its 
choice  or  rejection.  Common  brick,  for  example,  costs  a 
certain  amount  of  money  per  thousand  in  any  locality- 
more  in  some  localities  than  in  others,  but  this  cost  per 
thousand  may  at  once  involve  a  house  of  greater  expen- 
diture than  is  possible.  Brick,  then,  will  be  out  of 
the  question.  Local  availability  may  combine  with 
inherent  cost  to  prohibit  the  selection  of  a  given  mate- 
rial. If  not  easily  available  in  a  given  locality,  a  mate- 
rial, the  inherent  cost  of  which  in  another  locality 
might  be  within  the  cost  limit,  might  be  beyond  the  cost 
limit.  On  the  other  hand,  ready  local  availability  might 
make  possible  the  use  of  a  material  in  spite  of  its 
inherent  cost — in  a  case,  for  example,  where  a  material 
of  less  inherent  cost  would  take  on  a  considerable  added 
cost  (due  to  local  scarcity)  in  transportation  from  a 
distant  point. 

Workability  or  structural  cost  is  best  known  by 
the  architect.  Here  the  cost  question  is  one  of  labour 
rather  than  material,  though  the  expense  in  labour  is 
directly  due  to  the  use  of  a  certain  material.  Thus 


280  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

the  cost  of  erecting  an  actual  half-timber  house,  with 
hewn  frame  and  "nogged  in"  brickwork,  far  exceeds 
the  cost  of  lumber  or  the  brick  regarded  merely  as 
materials. 

In  upkeep,  as  a  cost  consideration,  are  involved 
questions  of  permanence,  low  maintenance  and  imper- 
vity.  If  low  maintenance  is  desired,  the  initial  cost  of 
the  house  is  naturally  greater,  by  reason  of  the  inherent 
cost  of  the  materials  making  for  low  maintenance,  and 
the  involved  cost  of  labour  incident  to  the  use  of  such 
materials.  To  be  impervious  to  weather,  the  walls  of 
a  house  must  be  of  brick  or  stone,  its  roof  of  tile  or  slate, 
the  fittings  (called  " flashings")  about  the  chimneys 
and  at  the  junction  of  roofs,  as  well  as  all  gutters,  rain- 
pipes  and  the  like,  must  be  of  lead  (or  at  least  of  cop- 
per), and  the  windows  should  be  leaded  metal  case- 
ments, set  in  leaded  metal  frames  imbedded  in  the 
masonry.  Here  would  be  a  structure  no  exposed  part 
of  which  could  possibly  deteriorate  in  centuries,  even 
of  severe  weather  conditions.  English  houses  so  built 
many  hundreds  of  years  ago  still  have  the  same  flash- 
ings, gutters,  rain-pipes,  and  casement  windows  that 
were  built  into  them.  Such  construction  is  naturally 
expensive,  even  subtracting  from  the  initial  cost  the 
yearly  item  of  maintenance  saved  over  a  long  period 
of  years,  and  at  best,  we  must  reconcile  our  minds  to 
the  inevitable  fact  that,  in  the  house  contemplated  by 
the  average  prospective  builder,  and  even  in  the  house 
contemplated  by  the  millionaire,  there  will  be  some 
materials  and  finishes  which  will  require  occasional 
replacement  or  constant  protection. 

At  this  point  we  may  apply  Table  C  to  Table  A,  with 
a  view  to  comparing  in  detail  the  like  types  of  con- 
struction enumerated  in  Table  A  by  means  of  the 


MATERIALS  AND  CONSTRUCTION  281 

understanding  of  the  properties  of  materials  (in  gen- 
eral terms)  which  has  been  acquired  by  the  above  study 
of  Table  C. 

In  this  close  discussion  of  the  types  involved  in 
Table  A,  studied  as  subdivided  in  Table  C,  the  item  of 
comparative  cost  (appearing  under  economic  proper- 
ties of  materials)  is  best  segregated  from  so  broad  a 
survey,  and  will  therefore  be  given  here  as  a  separate 
topic.  Its  consideration  at  the  beginning  is  logical,  in 
that  cost  is  one  of  the  first  questions  involved  in  the 
building  of  a  house.  The  figures  given  in  Table  D, 
however,  can  only  be  regarded  as  an  approximation, 
having  been  worked  out  by  an  experienced  practical 
contractor,  for  purposes  of  comparison.  In  this  table, 
a  unit  of  cost  of  $10,000  is  taken  as  the  basis  of  com- 
parison, and  it  is  hypothetically  assumed  that  the 
materials  listed  are  of  equal  availability.  This,  it  is 
obvious,  can  be  no  more  than  an  assumption,  and  the 
following  figures  would  be  affected,  one  way  or  another, 
by  local  conditions,  not  only  in  the  matter  of  material 
but  also  in  the  matter  of  labour.  A  levelling  of  these 
extraneous  questions,  however,  is  necessary  in  a  com- 
parison which  deals  simply  with  the  inherent  cost  of 
the  material  plus  the  labour  involved  in  the  type  of 
construction  called  for  by  the  use  of  that  material. 

TABLE  D 

Cost  of  Per 

Type  of  Conotruction  Outer  Total  Cent. 

Wall  Increase 

1.  Frame,  shingle-covered  $945  $10,000                     

2.  Frame,  clapboard-covered    985  10,040  .004 

3.  Frame,   stucco  on  wire-lath...  1,171  10,226  .0226 

4.  Hollow  tile  and  stucco 1,626  10,681  .0681 

5.  Brick    (ordinary)     2,217  11,272  .1272 

6.  Stone    (rough-dressed)    2,991  12,046  .2046' 

7.  Actual  half-timber    3,491  12,546  .2546 


282  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

In  assuming  the  $10,000  unit  above,  the  assumption 
is  that  the  outer  wall  is  the  only  part  of  the  house  which 
is  changed  in  the  seven  types  tabulated — that  we  are 
considering  seven  houses  in  which  all  the  interior  work, 
the  floors,  fireplaces,  plumbing  fixtures,  lighting  fix- 
tures, hardware,  etc.,  are  the  same,  so  that  the  figures 
in  the  first  column  show  the  cost  of  the  outer  wall  only. 
This  method  offers  the  most  definite  comparison  of 
building  costs.  It  will  be  seen  at  a  glance,  in  this 
table,  that  the  costs  of  a  shingle  house  and  a  clapboard 
house  are  very  nearly  the  same,  and  that  there  is  not 
a  great  advance  in  the  frame  house  which  is  covered 
with  wire-lath  and  stucco.  A  marked  advance,  how- 
ever, appears  with  the  hollow-tile  house,  the  next  two 
types  continue  to  advance,  until  in  the  actual  half- 
timber  house  we  find  that  the  original  $10',000  house, 
identical  in  its  interior  construction  and  equipment,  has 
increased  in  cost  to  $12,546,  solely  by  reason  of  the 
material  and  labour  represented  by  the  outer  walls. 

It  must  not  for  a  moment  be  supposed  that  the 
figures  in  this  table  are  to  be  regarded  as  of  general 
application.  Any  definite  figures  on  building  costs  must 
always  be  taken  merely  as  a  general  guide,  for  anyone 
will  readily  appreciate  the  fact,  for  example,  that  the 
rough  stone  house,  in  certain  localities,  might  cost  less 
(by  reason  of  ready  availability  of  material),  than  a 
brick  house  in  that  locality,  although  the  relation  is 
exactly  opposite  in  the  table.  In  other  words,  the 
money  saved  on  mason  work  in  laying  brick  in  a  locality 
where  brick  must  be  transported  from  a  great  distance, 
might  be  more  than  taken  up  by  the  cost  of  that 
transportation. 

Ordinary  building  lumber  is  equally  available  in 
nearly  every  locality,  and  the  labour  involved  in  car- 


MATERIALS  AND  CONSTRUCTION  283 

pentry  is  standardised,  so  that  the  figures  dealing  with 
the  frame  house  may  be  taken  as  of  wider  exact  appli- 
cation than  the  others. 

It  will  be  well  for  the  prospective  builder  to  remem- 
ber, however,  that  increases  will  occur  in  the  cost  of  the 
inside  according  to  the  character  of  the  outer  wall.  A 
brick  house,  for  example,  will  usually  contain  better 
interior  trim  and  detail  than  the  frame  house,  and  be 
a  more  expensive  proposition  in  every  way. 

Having  disposed  of  the  cost  consideration  in  the 
selection  of  a  material,  the  discussion  may  now  best 
proceed  by  noting  the  properties  which  appear  in 
Table  C  as  applied  to  each  of  these  seven  types  of 
building. 

The  frame  house,  in  general,  has  much  to  commend 
it,  as  well  as  certain  disadvantages.  Chief  among  these 
is  the  fire  hazard,  though  much  may  be  done  to  mitigate 
this  by  the  use  of  fire-resisting  paints  and  chemical 
preparations  which  impregnate  wood,  making  it  almost 
non-combustible.  The  character  of  wood  adapts  it  to 
the  small  house,  partly  because  the  small  house  is 
unpretentious  and  simple,  and  because  it  expresses  this 
quality  of  the  small  house. 

In  point  of  durability,  wood  need  not  be  regarded 
as  distinctly  perishable  excepting  in  comparison  with 
stone  or  burnt  clay  building  materials.  Even  in  the 
rigorous  climate  of  New  England  there  are  wooden 
houses  which  have  withstood  the  heat  and  the  storms  of 
nearly  three  centuries,  and  which  are  still  in  excellently 
serviceable  condition.  It  is  not  possible,  here,  to  dis- 
cuss in  detail  the  properties  of  each  of  the  building 
woods,  such  as  white  pine,  redwood,  cypress  and  the 
other  woods  more  generally  used  for  exposed  work. 
Here  is  detailed  data  with  which  the  architect  is  more 


284    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

conversant,  or  with  which  the  prospective  builder  may 
familiarise  himself  by  reading  or  study  of  books  from 
any  library.  Of  these,  perhaps  the  most  comprehen- 
sive and  concise  is  '  'American  Forest  Trees, ' '  by  Henry 
H.  Gibson.* 

Wood  is  by  all  means  an  adaptable  building  mate- 
rial, being  suited  for  both  the  structural  and  orna- 
mental parts  of  a  building.  It  may  readily  be  carved, 
run  in  mouldings  or  turned  in  columns,  balusters  and 
spindles,  nor  is  the  working  of  such  parts  an  expensive 
operation,  as  compared  with  the  working  of  stone. 

Of  the  texture  of  woods,  little  may  be  made  use  of  in 
exterior  work,  on  account  of  the  necessary  protective 
coat  of  paint.  Semi-transparent  creosote  stains  allow 
a  certain  amount  of  wood-texture  to  assert  itself,  and 
in  addition  to  the  more  informal  types  of  building,  such 
as  bungalows  and  cottages,  the  exposed  timber-work  in 
a  half-timber  house  may  be  so  treated.  The  same 
is  true  of  colour.  While  the  colour  of  an  exterior  wood 
is  much  to  be  reckoned  upon  in  the  design  of  a  house, 
this  colour  is  either  that  of  some  foreign  substance, 
or  the  result  of  the  action  of  weather,  excepting  in  the 
case  of  the  natural  colour  of  California  redwood.  Thus, 
the  "colour"  of  a  wooden  house  may  be  white,  with 
green  blinds,  because  it  has  been  so  painted,  and  the 
shingled  roof  may  be  silver  grey  because  it  has  been 
exposed  for  a  certain  length  of  time  to  the  weather. 

Many  attractive  effects  may  be  obtained  by  the  use 
of  shingle-stains,  which  not  only  add  to  the  shingle  some 
interesting  colour,  but  also  preserve  it.  A  shingle  roof, 
or  wall,  should  never  be  stained  after  the  shingles  are 
laid,  but  each  should  be  separately  dipped  in  the  stain. 

In  point  of  stylistic  suitability,  wood  construction 

*  Published  by  the  "Hardwood  Record"  Magazine,  Chicago,  1913. 


MATERIALS  AND  CONSTRUCTION  285 

will  be  found  appropriate  especially  for  houses  in 
Colonial  and  Georgian  Colonial  styles. 

Dutch  Colonial  farm  houses,  too,  as  well  as  many 
of  the  large  Southern  manors  and  the  Creole  plan- 
tation villas,  were  built  of  wood.  The  architectural 
status  of  the  bungalow  is  so  uncertain  that  wood  is 
quite  as  appropriate  for  its  construction  as  many  other 
materials. 

The  frame  house,  with  stucco  applied  over  wire-lath 
(a  metal  mesh  nailed  to  the  frame),  may  be  designed 
along  lines  Spanish  or  Italian.  The  construction,  of 
course,  is  an  imitation  of  more  stable  forms,  yet  is  per- 
missible on  the  score  of  economy.  Many  attractive  cot- 
tages and  small  houses  have  utilised  this  method  of 
construction,  because  a  variety  of  harmonious  colours 
may  be  mixed  in  the  stucco,  and  if  the  design  is  not  for 
a  large  and  pretentious  building,  there  is  little  to  be 
said  against  it.  The  chief  caution  to  be  observed  in  the 
building  of  a  frame  house  which  is  to  be  treated  with 
wire  lath  and  stucco  is  to  be  exercised  in  the  architect's 
and  contractor's  supervision,  to  prevent  the  application 
of  the  stucco  until  after  the  framework  of  the  house  has 
thoroughly  settled  into  place.  If  the  frame  settled  or 
warped  even  a  little  (which  all  house  frames  do),  it  is 
obvious  that  the  wire  lath  fastened  to  it  would  also  settle 
or  warp  with  it,  inevitably  cracking  the  comparatively 
thin  coat  of  stucco. 

The  question  of  local  suitability  has  been  enlarged 
upon  in  too  many  other  parts  of  this  book  to  require 
further  mention  here.  It  is  tabulated  in  the  list  of 
essential  considerations  of  building  materials  because 
of  its  importance  when  choice  is  being  made. 

The  property  of ' '  expressiveness ' '  is  closely  cognate 
with  the  property  of  adaptability — wood  as  a  house 


286  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

material  will  always  typify  simplicity  of  the  kind  which 
characterised  the  homes  of  the  first  American  colonists 
— it  will  always  be  a  fitting  material  to  express  the 
domestic  intent  of  the  cottage  and  the  informality  of  the 
bungalow.  For  the  "economical"  properties  of  wood 
as  a  building  material,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Table  D 
— its  low  cost  being  a  result  not  only  of  comparatively 
low  inherent  cost,  but  of  low  labour  cost  in  working  it. 
Local  availability  will  prove  a  pertinent  cost  factor, 
for  while  lumber  may  be  obtained  in  nearly  any  locality, 
the  mere  cost  of  hauling  from  a  lumber-yard  to  an 
isolated  site  may  influence  the  total  cost  surprisingly. 

In  the  upkeep,  or  maintenance  consideration,  there 
lies,  perhaps,  the  greatest  factor  tending  toward  the 
choice  of  more  permanent  materials.  Wood  must 
always  be  protected,  and  painting  is  not  an  inexpensive 
item.  The  frame  house,  coated  with  stucco  on  wire 
lath,  has  an  advantage  over  the  clapboard  covered 
house,  in  that  the  side-walls  require  no  painting.  It  is 
true  that  many  historic  old  farmhouses  have  gone  for 
years  without  being  touched  by  a  paint  brush,  and  their 
yearly  increasing  greyness,  embellished  even  by  lichens 
and  moss,  has  but  added  to  their  picturesque  charm. 
It  might  be  possible  to  invite  the  years  and  the  elements 
to  add  to  your  house  the  honest  appearance  of  old  age, 
if  its  location  were  either  remote,  or  along  a  roadside 
where  every  turn  disclosed  an  ancient  farmhouse.  In 
a  smartly  kept  suburb,  however,  it  is  to  be  feared  that 
the  adjacent  property  owners  would  prosaically  fail  to 
appreciate  this  natural  process  of  "  antiquing, "  and 
would  formally  protest  at  the  allowance  of  any  dwell- 
ing so  "shabby"  in  such  an  "improved  and  re- 
stricted" environment. 

With  the  hollow-tile  house  fourth  on  the  list  in 


MATERIALS  AND  CONSTRUCTION  287 

Table  D,  there  is  to  be  considered  a  distinctly  interest- 
ing type  of  construction,  and  one  which  lends  itself  with 
peculiar  versatility  to  the  rendering  of  both  historic 
and  essentially  modern  architectural  styles. 

The  unit  of  construction  in  a  hollow-tile  house  is  the 
tile,  which  is  usually  eight  inches,  and  sometimes  ten 
inches,  in  thickness,  and  corrugated  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  receive  directly  a  coating  of  stucco  on  the  outside 
of  the  house,  and  the  application  of  the  finished  plaster 
on  the  inside.  It  is  usually  found  best,  however,  not  to 
plaster  directly  on  the  inside  surface  of  a  hollow  tile 
wall,  but  to  give  this  surface  a  heavy  coating  of  bitu- 
minous water-proofing,  with  the  inside  plaster  applied 
to  wooden  or  metal  lath  on  ' '  furring. "  "  Furring, ' '  in 
this  case,  designates  two-by-four  inch  lumber  or  lighter 
stock,  fastened  to  the  tile  wall  in  order  to  afford  a  nail- 
ing for  the  lath,  and  to  place  the  inside  plaster  out  of 
any  danger  of  cracking  or  disintegrating  on  account  of 
the  inevitable  capillary  attraction  of  water  from  out- 
side, through  the  pores  of  the  tile. 

The  superficial  physical  character  of  hollow  tile  is, 
of  course,  never  apparent,  since  it  is  but  the  base  for  a 
coating  of  stucco.  For  durability,  including  its  fire- 
proof property,  hollow  tile  is  an  excellent  choice,  nor  is 
it  by  any  means  a  material  which  is  non-adaptable  to 
many  types  of  building. 

Types  of  building  which  may  well  be  considered  as 
logical  and  agreeable  opportunities  for  the  use  of  hollow 
tile  and  stucco  range  from  the  smallest  bungalow  to 
the  largest  country  or  seashore  hotel.  Renderings  of 
the  Spanish  mission  type,  and  of  the  Spanish  or  Italian 
villa  type,  are  obviously  a  logical  use  for  this  construc- 
tion, and  that  modern  adjunct — the  private  garage — is  a 
particularly  fitting  building  for  the  use  of  hollow  tile. 


288    THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

Beference  to  Table  D  will  show  us  that  hollow  tile 
and  stucco,  while  more  expensive  than  stucco  on  wire 
lath,  is  far  lower  in  cost  than  brick. 

In  considering  the  brick  house,  there  is  considered 
"the  house  permanent."  Brick  will  not  burn,  crack 
or  decay,  and  by  reason  of  the  small  size  of  the  brick  as 
a  unit  of  design,  it  affords  a  remarkable  medium  for 
architectural  expression.  Brick-building  as  it  is  seen 
to-day  is  a  thing  of  but  few  years '  growth,  and  is  a  wide 
departure  from  the  misuse  of  brick  which  characterised 
the  Victorian  period.  The  bricklayer  of  1880,  and  for 
more  than  a  decade  thereafter,  was  taught  that  the  de- 
sideratum in  a  brick  wall,  above  all  else,  was  absolute 
uniformity  of  surface  and  suppression  of  the  texture  of 
the  brick  itself  and  of  the  joints  between  each  brick.  The 
most  sought  bricks  were  the  smooth,  pressed  kind,  and 
these  were  laid  with  almost  invisible  mortar  joints, 
in  effects  which  possessed  no  more  character  or  interest 
than  a  piece  of  oil-cloth.  It  seemed  that  there  was 
a  total  ignorance  of  the  very  important  fact  that  the 
brick  is  a  unit  of  interest  in  itself  as  well  as  in  relation 
to  an  entire  wall,  and  consequently  there  was  no  appre- 
ciation of  the  endless  possibilities  of  colour,  texture 
and  pattern  in  brick  work. 

If  the  builders  of  this  period,  however,  had  been  no 
worse  than  merely  stupid,  and  had  confined  the  inept- 
ness  of  their  efforts  to  mere  monotony  and  unimagina- 
tiveness,  one  might  overlook  the  surviving  monuments 
to  their  stupidity.  But  they  did  a  thing  which  was  far 
worse :  they  painted  brick  work.  The  more  conserva- 
tive used  a  rich  red,  unlike  any  honest  brick,  and  this 
they  embellished  by  picking  out,  with  painful  unifor- 
mity, imaginary  joints  entirely  regardless  of  the  real 
joints,  in  black  or  white  paint.  The  more  ambitious 


MATERIALS  AND  CONSTRUCTION  289 

went  further,  and  most  of  us  have  seen  some  of  their 
masterpieces.  They  painted  their  brick  work  a  dis- 
mal, sallow  sort  of  yellow,  with  dark  red  joints  (imag- 
inary) or,  in  still  more  gorgeous  flights  of  fancy,  used 
a  weird  and  horrible  green,  unlike  any  colour  in  the 
world,  and,  according  to  taste,  painted  imaginary  joints 
upon  this,  in  black  or  white. 

This  painting  of  brick  work  is  here  enlarged  upon, 
because  it  is  an  admirable  illustration  of  the  absolute 
dishonesty  and  undesirability  of  denying  the  true  text- 
ure of  a  building  material.  This  is  further  apparent 
from  the  practices  which  painted  brick  work  encour- 
aged. Builders  saw  that  it  was  not  even  necessary  to 
use  brick  to  build  a  brick  wall — since  the  material  in  a 
real  brick  wall  was  entirely  disguised  by  paint.  A 
rubble  wall,  then,  with  a  smooth  coat  of  stucco  or  plas- 
ter, was  often  painted  with  a  pattern  of  perfectly 
uniform  " brick  joints,"  and  the  writer  has  even  seen 
examples  of  this  kind  of  "brick  work"  in  which  the 
"bricks"  were  actually  veined  to  resemble  (one  must 
suppose)  marble.  Architectural  insanity  could  no  fur- 
ther go — and  we  had  better  follow  the  swing  of  the 
pendulum  away  from  this  negation  of  texture  and 
structural  properties  toward  the  dawn  of  architectural 
appreciation  and  clearer  vision  of  such  things. 

The  turning  point  came  with  an  appreciation  of  the 
beauties  of  very  old  American  brick  work,  specifically, 
of  the  interest  and  variety  apparent  in  the  first  brick 
buildings  of  Harvard  College,  in  Cambridge,  Massa- 
chusetts. A  few  discerning  architects,  studying  these 
buildings,  and  some  other  early  examples,  noticed  that 
there  was  a  considerable  range  of  colour  and  some 
natural  effect  of  texture,  as  well  as  an  often  recurring 

19 


290  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

note  of  interest  and  variety  in  the  appearance  of  odd 
burnt  or  discoloured  brick-ends  here  and  there. 

In  the  days  when  these  early  buildings  were  erected, 
brick  was  scarce,  and  the  mason  could  not  afford  to 
throw  out  all  the  bricks  with  burnt  ends,  the  bricks 
which  had  been  on  the  insides  of  the  stacks  in  the 
baking  kilns.  Later  these  bricks  with  ends  burnt  pur- 
ple, black,  dark  blue  or  olive  green  were  deliberately 
selected  by  the  mason  for  use  in  drains,  or  in  the  foun- 
dation walls  below  grade.  They  were  ' l  inferior. ' ' 

With  the  dawn  of  the  new  era  of  brick-building, 
however,  these  same  naturally  burnt  bricks  were  keenly 
sought  by  architects,  and  were  at  first  known  as  "Har- 
vard ' '  bricks.  Architects  began  to  work  out  patterns  in 
brick  work,  or  to  introduce  burnt  brick-ends  at  random 
in  their  work,  and  in  the  course  of  time  it  was  noticed 
that  a  single  brick  might  be  more  interesting  than  the 
whole  wall. 

In  other  words,  the  brick  became  properly  recog- 
nised as  a  unit  in  design,  as  it  is  actually  a  unit  in  con- 
struction, and  with  this  recognition  came  the  "raked 
joint. ' '  This  kind  of  joint,  formed  by  raking  out  a  little 
mortar,  allowed  each  brick  to  stand  out  a  little,  and 
immediately  there  was  a  new  effect  of  texture  in  the 
whole  wall.  This  came  before  the  development  of 
texture  in  the  brick  itself. 

A  brick  wall  came  to  be  desired,  as  it  should  be, 
because  of  its  character  and  expression.  It  was  redis- 
covered to  be  an  honest  building  material,  beautiful  and 
adaptable  as  well,  and  endowed  with  qualities  of  per- 
manence, fire-resistance  and  stability. 

It  was  a  natural  thing,  at  this  point  in  the  evolution 
of  brick-building,  that  the  possibilities  of  the  individual 
brick  became  further  developed,  and  several  discerning 


MATERIALS  AND  CONSTRUCTION  291 

manufacturers  began  to  produce  beautifully  coloured 
bricks,  wherein  all  the  hues  were  achieved  in  the  burn- 
ing, and  all  were  in  tone  with  the  softer  and  more 
harmonious  colours  of  nature — olive  and  sap  greens, 
greys,  browns,  tans,  purples,  dull  blues  and  oranges. 
There  are  now  highly  aesthetic  "scales"  of  colour  in 
bricks — scales  with  which  it  is  possible  to  effect  the 
most  subtle  and  pleasing  schemes.  A  brick  which  is 
green  because  it  is  painted  is  a  grievous  affront  to  any 
decent  person ;  but  a  brick  which  is  green  through  and 
through,  because  it  is  baked  green  is  a  very  different 
thing. 

But  the  difference  is  more  than  one  of  dishonesty 
and  honesty,  or  surface  deception  and  real  material- 
bricks  of  to-day  have  in  themselves,  individual  and 
interesting  textures,  as  distinctive  as  the  texture  of  a 
woven  fabric,  or  the  textures  of  different  stones. 

Nor  has  the  effort  been  confined  to  colour  and 
texture — special  shapes,  too,  have  been  devised,  longer 
and  more  flat  than  the  standard  ' <  2-4-8 ' '  brick,  so  that 
it  is  possible  to  effect  strong  expressions  of  the  hori- 
zontal characteristic  of  brick  courses. 

The  prospective  builder  must  remember,  however, 
that  these  new  and  special  bricks,  of  distinctive  colour, 
texture  and  shape,  are  considerably  more  expensive  per 
thousand  than  "ordinary"  brick,  so  that  the  figure 
quoted  for  the  fifth  type  of  house  in  Table  D  must  be 
taken  as  low  for  a  house  designed  to  be  faced  with 
"special"  brick. 

Having  pursued  to  this  point  a  necessarily  curtailed 
history  of  the  evolution  of  brick  work,  it  now  remains 
to  direct  upon  brick,  as  a  building  material,  the  sev- 
eral considerations  listed  in  Table  C. 

It  is  not  necessary,  perhaps,  to  elaborate  greatly 


292  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OP  ARCHITECTURE 

upon  these  various  properties  as  applied  to  brick:  as 
used  to-day,  brick  has  every  opportunity  to  interest- 
ingly assert  its  character  as  a  burnt-clay  product ;  its 
durability  is  an  inherent  quality,  the  same  in  ancient 
times,  to-day  and  always;  its  adaptability  is  excep- 
tional, for  effects  of  heavy  mass,  of  delicate  detail,  and 
even  of  mere  surface  decoration  may  equally  readily  be 
obtained. 

Of  texture  and  colour  enough  was  said  above  to  sug- 
gest to  the  prospective  builder  the  present-day  possi- 
bilities of  brick  in  both  these  particulars. 

In  point  of  stylistic  suitability  brick  has  certain 
limitations.  It  is,  of  course,  a  universal  material  for 
schools,  hospitals,  clubs  and  a  wide  variety  of  other 
types  of  large,  permanent  buildings,  including  armo- 
ries. It  is  the  material  above  all  others  to  use  in  a 
church  of  Eomanesque  design.  Certain  types  of 
English  country  house  demand  the  use  of  brick,  as  well 
as  certain  types  of  early  American  house,  either  in 
town  or  country.  "Independence  Hall,"  in  Philadel- 
phia, is  a  model  for  a  style  of  city  building  in  brick, 
stone  and  wood  which,  for  its  type,  has  never  been 
improved  upon.  The  French  chateau,  if  not  built 
entirely  of  dressed  stone,  was  very  often  built  of  brick 
with  dressed  stone  quoins,  copings  and  trim,  the  brick 
portion  usually  handled  with  remarkable  charm  and 
interest.  In  the  Italian  villa,  however,  the  flat  stucco 
wall-surface  was  prevalent,  despite  the  fact  that 
Eenaissance  architects  showed  marked  ability  and 
evident  pleasure  in  the  material  in  many  of  their  city 
buildings.  (McKim,  Mead  &  White,  in  fact,  ushered 
in  their  great  American  revival  of  Italian  Renaissance 
architecture  by  designing  several  important  city 
structures  in  the  Italian  manner  of  brick  building.) 


MATERIALS  AND  CONSTRUCTION  293 

Considering  the  aspect  of  local  suitability,  it  must 
be  remembered  that  brick  is  not  always  appropriate. 
This  is  especially  true  of  most  localities  in  New  Eng- 
land, where  brick  has  always  been  comparatively  scarce 
and  used  for  little  else  but  chimneys.  By  reason  of  the 
presence  of  extensive  local  clayfields,  Pennsylvania, 
New  Jersey  and  Maryland  make  the  natural  habitat  of 
the  brick  house,  although,  of  course,  there  are  many 
brickyards  in  many  other  parts  of  the  country. 

Of  the  expressiveness  of  brick  as  a  building  mate- 
rial, enough  was  said  in  the  foregoing  sketch  of  the 
1 '  evolution  of  brick  work ' '  to  suggest  the  great  range  of 
expression  which  the  intelligent  appreciation  and  use 
of  brick  work  lays  open  to  the  architect. 

The  items  of  inherent  cost  and  comparative  cost 
may  be  deduced  from  Table  D,  and  must  be  recognised 
as  varying  considerably  in  different  localities.  The 
prospective  builder  is  again  reminded,  also,  of  the 
greater  cost  of ' '  special ' '  face-bricks,  which  a  restricted 
total  expenditure  may  confine  to  a  little  interior  use  as 
an  excellent  material  for  fireplaces.  The  item  of  local 
availability  is  closely  linked  with  the  cost  considera- 
tions, or  they  with  it,  and  it  must  be  remembered  that 
a  brick  house  near  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  will  * '  figure ' ' 
very  differently  from  the  same  brick  house  at  Marble- 
head,  Massachusetts. 

A  large  part  of  the  cost  of  a  brick  house,  after  the 
inherent  cost  of  the  material  is  figured,  lies  in  the 
structural  cost,  due  to  the  fact  that  brick,  a  small  unit, 
builds  up  slowly  (as  compared  with  the  large  hollow  tile 
units),  and  calls  for  skilled  labour,  especially  where 
effects  of  unusual  pattern  or  jointing  are  called  for. 

In  the  upkeep,  or  maintenance  consideration,  lies 
one  of  the  most  conspicuous  and  undeniable  recommen- 


294  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

dations  of  brick  as  a  building  material.  Even  if  a  poor 
mixture  of  mortar  has  been  used  (too  much  sand  and 
too  little  cement),  it  would  be  over  a  generation  before 
the  joints  required  "pointing"  on  account  of  the  disin- 
tegration of  the  mortar,  and  if  a  well-mixed  cement 
mortar  has  been  used,  there  is  constructed  a  wall  of 
splendid  impervity  and  permanence. 

It  is  suggested  here  that  the  prospective  builder 
direct  a  little  conscious  observation  upon  the  examples 
of  brick-building  which  he  daily  sees  about  him,  noting 
the  degree  of  success  or  interest  attained  (or  the  lack 
of  either)  in  details  of  colour,  texture,  pattern  and  the 
like.  Let  him  imagine  some  kind  of  brick  work  which 
attracts  him,  as  applied  to  the  house  he  is  about  to 
build,  become  aware  of  the  reasons  why  the  brick  work 
of  the  80 's  appears  so  dismal  and  stupid — let  him  be- 
come, in  short,  a  competently  intelligent  amateur  critic 
of  brick  work,  so  long  as  he  does  not  cultivate  a  delusion 
that  he  knows  more  about  it  than  an  architect.  It  is 
impossible  in  limited  compass  to  discuss  and  illustrate 
every  type  of  brick  work,  which  constitutes  a  study  in 
itself,  and  the  writer  is  convinced  that  it  would  be  far 
more  valuable  for  the  reader  to  cultivate  for  himself 
as  much  personal  discrimination  as  possible  in  the 
matter. 

The  discussion  has  now  reached  the  sixth  type  of 
house  listed  in  Table  D — the  house  of  "rough-dressed" 
stone,  by  which  is  understood  the  house  very  often 
alluded  to  as  "  fieldstone. ' '  Fieldstone  may,  indeed,  be 
the  material,  but  this  must  be  "dressed,"  or  roughly 
squared  up  in  order  to  effect  a  good  wall.  If  not  gath- 
ered from  the  fields,  or  from  old  walls,  this  stone  may 
be  locally  quarried  from  a  ledge,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
well-known  "Chestnut  Hill"  stone,  which  has  afforded 


H       e 


Bullring,  Okie  &  /iegler,  Architects 

AN   EXPRESSION  OF  TEXTURE   IN    BUILDING    MATERIALS 

Ledge-stone,  used  for  the  walls  of  this  house,  has  been  "roughcast "  with  stucco 
and  whitewashed 


H.  T.  Lindeberg,  Architect 

THE  USE  OF  STUCCO  AS  AN  EXTERIOR  FINISH 

Houses  in  several  styles  may  be  acceptably  rendered  in  stucco — notably  those  of 
Spanish  or  Italian  origin,  as  well  as  such  houses  as  the  above,  derived  from  the 
modern  English  type 


MATERIALS  AND  CONSTRUCTION  295 

the  Philadelphia  architects  such  a  thoroughly  colloquial 
and  charming  building  material. 

The  use  of  stone  from  old  walls  is  highly  to  be 
recommended,  because  much  of  it  has  been  roughly 
dressed  perhaps  a  century  or  more  ago,  so  that  the  faces 
are  weathered  to  a  fine  colour  of  grey.  In  any  case  a 
stone  which  will  naturally  split  into  comparatively  thin 
pieces  is  desirable,  because  it  will  lay  in  even,  horizon- 
tal courses,  and  may  be  laid  up  with  very  little  mortar 
appearing  in  the  joints.  The  abomination  in  rough 
stone-masonry  is  the  wall  of  round  cobble-stones, 
obviously  calling  for  mortar  as  a  necessity  for  the  sta- 
bility of  the  wall,  and  forcing  into  an  unnatural  use  a 
building  material  which  could  never  have  a  natural 
use.  The  ideal  rough  stone  wall,  according  to  the 
technique  of  stone-masonry,  is  the  ''dry-wall,"  or  wall 
in  which  no  mortar  whatever  has  been  used.  While 
such  a  wall,  of  course,  would  not  do  for  house  construc- 
tion, it  is  possible  and  much  to  be  desired  for  porch  or 
pergola  posts  and  for  garden  walls.  The  dry-wall, 
obviously,  calls  for  a  high  degree  of  skill  on  the  part 
of  the  mason,  as  well  as  for  the  local  availability  of  a 
ledge-stone  which  will  split  to  lay  in  flat  courses.  Any 
stone  resembling  slate  will  be  found  very  adaptable  in 
this  respect. 

The  desideratum,  then,  in  the  wall  of  rough-dressed 
stone,  is  the  nearest  possible  approach,  in  appearance, 
to  the  dry-wall. 

The  interesting  expedient  of  using  a  great  deal  of 
mortar  for  the  walls  of  a  stone  house,  and  giving  the 
whole  a  coat  of  whitewash  or  white  paint  is  a  "special" 
type  of  rough-dressed  stone  work,  intended  to-day  to 
recall  the  very  early  American  colonial  farm-houses 
which  were  treated  in  this  manner.  Here,  however, 


296  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

are  involved  considerations  of  historical  or  antiquarian 
aspect,  rather  than  structural. 

Further  and  more  specific  points  in  connection  with 
the  house  of  rough-dressed  stone  may  be  brought  out  by 
reference  to  its  properties  as  listed  in  Table  C. 

Of  the  physical  properties  of  rough-dressed  stone, 
little  need  be  said.  Its  character  is  peculiarly  interest- 
ing and  naturally  full  of  diversity  and  variety,  and 
there  need  be  no  question  as  to  its  durability.  Adapta- 
bility as  applied  to  rough  stone  cannot  be  stated  in  a 
fixed  rule  because  stones  vary,  geologically,  according 
to  locality,  some  proving  far  more  adaptable  than 
others,  and  a  few  proving  actually  impossible  to  use. 

In  point  of  texture  and  colour,  rough  stone  work  has 
no  competitor,  for  neither  art  nor  science  has  so  far 
improved  upon  Nature  in  these  particulars.  The  skil- 
ful stone-mason  will  select  the  stones  with  thought  of 
texture  and  colour  constantly  in  his  mind,  and  create 
a  wall  which  will  be  a  permanent  delight  and  satis- 
faction to  the  eye,  becoming  increasingly  beautiful  and 
charming  with  age  and  growth  of  vines. 

When  stylistic  suitability  is  considered,  there  be- 
come apparent  certain  definite  limitations  for  the  use  of 
rough-dressed  stone  as  a  building  material. 

Primarily,  it  has  proved  in  every  respect  an  ideal 
material  for  the  present  day  revivals  of  early  American 
farm  houses,  notably  in  the  vicinity  of  Philadelphia, 
and  in  general  it  is  an  admirable  choice  for  the  render- 
ing of  any  bungalow,  cottage  or  house  of  the  "pictur- 
esque" type.  No  material  is  better  suited  to  the  con- 
struction of  any  house  in  mountain  or  seashore 
surroundings,  and,  obviously,  no  material  can  possess 
stronger  values  of  local  suitability. 

Expressiveness  in  buildings  of  rough-dressed  stone- 


MATERIALS  AND  CONSTRUCTION  297 

work  will  depend  largely  upon  the  physical  properties 
of  the  stone,  and  upon  the  technical  skill  possessed  by 
the  mason  engaged  to  lay  the  walls.  It  will  be  found 
that  few  brick-layers  are  equal  to  the  undertaking, 
which  requires  a  great  deal  of  experience,  where  the 
best  results  are  desired,  and  the  best  course  to  pursue 
is  to  institute  inquiries  in  the  neighbourhood.  In  virtu- 
ally every  locality  where  suitable  building  stone  is  to 
be  found,  a  short  search  will  disclose  a  local  stone- 
mason, usually  a  "character,"  but  nearly  always  a 
remarkably  skilful  artisan,  and  a  man  experienced 
through  years  of  local  "job  work"  in  laying  up  just 
the  kind  of  stone  which  exists  in  the  locality  to  which 
he  is  native.  Obviously  such  an  artisan,  although  tech- 
nically untrained,  will  be  found  to  lay  up  the  best  stone 
wall — he  is  familiar  with  every  peculiarity,  possibility 
and  restriction  of  the  material  he  has  so  long  been 
called  upon  to  build  into  chimneys,  foundations  and 
sidewalls  for  the  folk  of  the  neighbourhood.  He  may  be 
employed  directly  by  the  contractor. 

Confronted,  now,  by  the  cost  consideration,  both 
inherent  and  comparative,  reference  is  again  made  to 
Table  D,  and  the  prospective  builder  will  realise  that 
the  governing  factor  here  will  be  item  "c,"  or  local 
availability.  Cost,  obviously,  would  be  prohibitive  if 
no  suitable  building  stone  existed  near  the  site  of  the 
house,  unless  its  use  were  restricted,  perhaps,  to  a 
fireplace  or  a  chimney.  It  should  be  remembered,  how- 
ever, that  rough  stone  is,  of  all  materials,  a  local  one, 
and  a  naturalistic  one,  and  hence  a  poor  choice  for 
any  building  in  a  locality  to  which  it  is  not  native. 
The  use  of  rough  stone,  in  such  a  case,  becomes  an  af- 
fectation instead  of  an  expression  of  rugged  sincerity 
and  structural  honesty. 


298  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

The  working-cost  of  rough  stone  will  be  found  to 
vary  with  the  nature  of  the  stone,  and  with  the  advan- 
tageousness  of  the  bargain  which  can  be  struck  with  the 
aforementioned  local  stone-mason.  In  any  case,  the 
cost  of  handling  and  laying  up  rough  stone,  all  other 
things  being  equal,  exceeds  that  of  brick. 

In  upkeep,  or  maintainence,  it  is  obvious  that  the 
stone  house  is  a  permanent  and  substantial  affair — a 
dwelling  for  all  time.  Many  of  the  most  ancient  houses 
in  this  country  are  of  rough-dressed  stone — a  splendid 
building  material  in  every  instance  where  its  use  is 
to  be  regarded  as  logical  and  possible  according  to  the 
considerations  set  forth  in  Table  C. 

Our  commentary  on  building  materials  has  now 
reached  the  last,  or  seventh  type  listed  in  Table  D — the 
house  of  actual  "half -timber"  construction,  and  here 
we  are  considering  a  building  which  differs  from  others 
not  in  respect  to  the  materials  used,  but  rather  in  re- 
spect to  the  manner  in  which  they  are  used. 

Before  proceeding  with  a  brief  discussion  of  the 
actual  half -timber  house,  it  is  necessary  to  speak  of  the 
house  which  is  not  of  half-timber  construction,  although 
thoughtlessly  so  called.  It  has  been  apparent  to  archi- 
tects, for  some  years,  that  the  purely  decorative  aspect 
of  half -timber  work  could  add  greatly  to  the  appearance 
of  the  small  house,  while  its  actual  cost  would  render 
it  prohibitive.  The  "patterns"  characteristic  of  half- 
timber  work,  especially  in  the  gable  ends  of  houses, 
were  appreciated  as  highly  effective  from  the  design 
point  of  view,  and  so  the  effect  only  was  produced,  by 
a  perfectly  out-and-out ' '  fake. ' '  There  is,  perhaps,  no 
serious  charge  to  be  brought  against  the  practice,  so 
long  as  there  exists  no  intent  to  deceive — so  long  as  the 
work  is  obviously  a  decorative  makeshift,  and  not  a 


1'pjohn  it  Conolile,  Architects 

THE  HOUSE  OF  ACTUAL  HALF-TIMBER  CONSTRUCTION 

In  the  true  half-timber  house,  the  frame  of  the  house  is  exposed,  and  the  spaces  between  the  timbers 

are  filled  in  with  brick  work 


MATERIALS  AND  CONSTRUCTION  299 

structural  deception.  One  would  prefer,  of  course,  a 
real  half-timber  house,  but  reference  to  Table  D  will 
remind  the  prospective  builder  that  he  is  considering 
the  most  expensive  type  of  construction  there  listed. 
The  "imitation"  of  half-timber  work  consists  of  apply- 
ing, on  a  stucco  exterior  wall-surface,  thin  boards 
(usually  stained  brown)  arranged  to  represent  the 
posts  and  braces  which  were  developed  to  form  natural 
and  structural  patterns  in  actual  half-timber  work. 
There  is,  for  this  reason,  more  palliation  for  the  imita- 
tion "half -timber"  house  wherein  mere  superficial 
1 1  patterns ' '  are  contrived,  than  for  the  imitation  which 
attempts  to  represent  structural  members  which  do 
not  exist. 

The  real  half-timber  house  is  a  thing  of  architectural 
merit  and  beauty  for  the  reasons  that  it  expresses  in 
an  entirely  logical  and  perfectly  frank  manner,  its  con- 
struction, and  because  it  affords  an  opportunity  for 
marked  diversity  and  interest  not  only  in  its  materials, 
but  in  the  manner  in  which  these  are  used. 

In  an  earlier  part  of  this  book,  some  mention  was 
made  of  this  type  of  construction,  but  repetition  may 
be  pardoned  in  the  present  chapter.  In  the  actual  half- 
timber  house,  the  wooden  members  forming  what  ap- 
pears to  be  a  "pattern,"  (as  in  the  garden  front  of 
Tangley  Manor,  shown  in  the  frontispiece)  are  the 
actual  framing  timbers  of  the  building  exposed — its 
posts,  sills,  studding  and  corner  braces.  The  spaces 
between  these  structural  members,  in  the  actual  half- 
timber  house,  are  filled  (or  "nogged")  with  brick  work, 
which  is  either  arranged  in  interesting  patterns,  to 
show  as  brick,  or  more  plainly  built  in,  to  be  concealed 
with  a  coat  of  stucco. 

It  is  obvious  that  here  exists  at  once  an  opportunity 


300  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

and  a  task — an  opportunity  to  show  interesting  texture 
in  the  wood-work,  by  means  of  rough-hewing  it  and 
leaving  visible  marks  of  the  adze,  as  well  as  to  show 
endless  diversity  in  the  brick  "nogging,"  or  subtle 
colour  in  the  stucco  coat. 

The  carpentry  involved,  as  well  as  the  skilful 
masonry,  are  the  items  which  mount  up  the  cost,  rather 
than  the  actual  materials  used. 

Oak,  of  course,  is  the  best  wood  for  the  posts  and 
braces,  and  in  this  item  "inherent  cost"  is  a  factor, 
because  heavy  pieces  are  required,  and  pieces  reason- 
ably free  from  defects  of  any  kind. 

The  half -timber  house,  considered  under  the  several 
points  listed  in  Table  C,  will  be  found  to  possess  a  high 
degree  of  desirability,  with  its  chief  drawback  repre- 
sented by  the  cost  considerations,  inherent,  compara- 
tive, and  every  other  item  of  cost. 

Half -timber  work  possesses  by  all  means,  character, 
and  the  ancient  buildings  of  England  and  the  Continent 
testify  to  its  durability.  In  point  of  adaptability,  it 
should  be  self-evident  that  skilful  artisanship,  in  this 
case  real  craftsmanship,  can  perform  wonders  of 
structural  ingenuity. 

Half -timber  work,  like  any  other  frank  and  sincere 
use  of  materials,  will  be  found  rich  in  values  of  texture 
and  colour. 

The  stylistic  suitability  of  half -timber  work  is  con- 
fined to  derivations  of  the  Elizabethan  English  country 
house,  as  well  as  the  town  houses  of  the  period,  though 
in  the  latter,  modern  city  fire  laws  will  either  exclude 
the  type  or  necessitate  a  fire-proof  "effect"  of  half- 
timber  work.  Half-timber  work  was  also  largely  used 
in  the  mediaeval  buildings  of  France,  Germany  and  the 
low  countries,  but  American  derivations  of  these  are 


MATERIALS  AND  CONSTRUCTION  301 

by  way  of  being  architectural  curiosities,  albeit  the 
writer  could  cite  several  interesting  examples. 

Local  suitability,  of  course,  would  exclude  the  half- 
timber  houses  in  America,  but  the  same  consideration 
would  exclude  many  other  types  of  buildings  which  we 
have  thrown  (with  greater  or  less  thought)  into  our 
architectural  melting  pot,  and  we  will  therefore  ignore 
it  in  this  instance. 

Certainly  no  type  of  construction,  or  no  use  of  ma- 
terials, could  possess  greater  or  more  directly  obvious 
qualities  of  expressiveness. 

The  first  four  items  listed  in  Table  C  under  "Eco- 
nomic Properties"  have  been  discussed  earlier — the 
last,  or  maintenance  consideration,  may  quickly  be  dis- 
missed by  reference  to  the  ancient  half -timber  buildings 
of  Europe,  as  staunch  and  sound  after  centuries  of  exist- 
ence as  in  the  time  they  were  built.  Oak  does  not 
decay  in  centuries,  and  the  "  Hogging"  between  the 
structural  members  is,  of  course,  impervious  and  per- 
manent. The  obvious  accompaniments  for  the  half- 
timber  house  are  casement  windows,  the  overhanging 
second  story,  the  picturesque  roof-line  and  quaint  chim- 
neys. Taking  it  in  toto,  the  half-timber  house  is  an 
undertaking  for  the  experienced,  scholarly  and  imagi- 
native architect,  and  is  a  type  of  house  which  the  pros- 
pective builder  must  expect  only  with  the  inevitable 
increase  in  cost,  throughout,  over  a  house  of  any  of  the 
six  other  kinds  enumerated  in  Table  D. 

In  concluding  this  chapter,  it  remains  only  to  offer 
a  few  observations  on  the  mingling  of  two  or  more 
materials  in  one  building — a  question  upon  which  there 
has  been  an  extraordinary  diversity  of  opinion  on  the 
part  of  architects  and  amateurs  alike. 


302  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

The  most  important  general  admonition,  perhaps, 
is  against  the  combined  use  of  perishable  and  imperish- 
able materials  in  the  same  house,  as  in  a  structure  with 
first  story  of  stone,  brick  or  hollow  tile,  and  the  second 
of  frame  construction.  A  fire-proof  roof,  of  slate  or 
tile,  on  a  frame  house  should  be  palpably  absurd,  but 
instances  exist. 

Broadly  speaking,  most  combinations  of  impervious 
materials  are  permissible,  notably:  the  hollow  tile 
second  story  on  a  base  story  of  brick  or  of  rough- 
dressed  stone.  Rough-dressed  stone  and  brick,  used 
together,  must  be  handled  with  a  considerable  degree 
of  architectural  ingenuity,  of  which  striking  examples 
may  be  seen  from  time  to  time,  as  well  as  lamentable 
failures.  It  was  remarked  in  an  earlier  chapter  that 
much  of  the  charm  of  the  modern  English  country 
house  is  due  to  a  colloquial  and  idiomatic  use  of  varied 
building  materials,  skilfully  and  informally  blended  to 
create  charming  and  interesting  effects. 

Variety,  like  originality,  inevitably  leads  to  archi- 
tectural disaster  if  it  is  made  an  end  in  itself,  and 
pursued  without  real  and  sincere  design.  If  a  certain 
portion  of  a  building  seems,  from  its  structural  nature, 
to  call  for  the  use  of  a  certain  material,  variety  becomes 
a  logical  factor  in  the  design — otherwise  it  is  as  worth- 
less as  any  other  architectural  tour  de  force. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  foregoing  observa- 
tions upon  the  properties  and  uses  of  certain  commonly 
employed  building  materials  are  intended  to  apply  only 
to  exterior  work.  While  many  of  the  same  considera- 
tions may  be  applied  to  interior  work,  it  is  obvious  that 
there  is  greater  latitude  in  every  direction,  within  the 
house,  so  that  a  discussion  would  involve  extensive 


MATERIALS  AND  CONSTRUCTION  303 

reference  to  interior  decoration,  furniture  and  the  like, 
properly  to  be  taken  up  as  a  separate  study.* 

It  can  only  be  observed  that  a  certain  degree  of 
consistency  should  be  apparent  in  the  exterior  and 
interior  of  any  building.  The  house  of  architecturally 
pretentious  or  imposing  exterior  should  not  conceal 
mean  interiors,  nor  should  the  humble  cottage  house 
within  its  walls  disproportionately  elaborate  or  mag- 
nificent interiors.  Here  one  invades  the  realm  of ' '  good 
taste ' '  in  general,  as  well  as  of  architectural  propriety 
in  particular,  and  the-  best  rules  which  could  be  formu- 
lated would  not  prove  of  as  great  value  as  an  ounce 
of  common  sense. 

In  the  following  chapter  there  will  be  considered 
several  important  aspects  of  the  proposed  house  which 
may  be  regarded  as  existing  irrespectively  of  the  archi- 
tectural style  in  which  it  is  designed,  or  of  the  materials 
which  have  been  chosen  as  most  appropriate  for  the 
rendering  of  that  style. 

* "  The  Practical  Book  of  Interior  Decoration "  is  already  in 
advanced  preparation  and  will  be  issued  in  1917. 


CHAPTER  IV 

PLANS  AND  DETAILS 

DIFFERENT  KINDS  OF  PLANS.  IMPORTANCE  OF  A  DEFINITE 
METHOD  OF  PROCEDURE  IN  DEVELOPING  BOTH  PLANS  AND 
DETAILS.  NOTES  ON  WINDOWS,  DOORS,  CHIMNEYS,  STAIR- 
WAYS, ETC.  WOODWORK,  INTERIOR  TRIM  AND  FINISH, 
HARDWARE,  LIGHTING  AND  PLUMBING  FIXTURES,  ETC. 
THE  BEST  MANNER  IN  WHICH  TO  INSURE  THE  FULFIL- 
MENT OF  REQUIREMENTS 

IT  isi  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to  offer  a  few 
general  suggestions  to  the  prospective  builder 
in  matters  relating  to  plan  and  detail — suggestions 
designed  to  stimulate  observation  of  houses  seen,  and 
study  of  houses  which  may  attract  attention  through 
the  pages  of  a  magazine.  And  it  should  be  kept  in 
mind  that  these  suggestions  are  not  to  be  taken,  neces- 
sarily, as  recommendations,  because  nearly  every  house 
involves  different  problems  and  requirements.  Hav- 
ing given  thought  to  some  of  the  following  points,  how- 
ever, the  prospective  builder  will  be  better  equipped 
to  discuss  them  with  his  architect.  Advice  which  is 
didactic  and  specific,  especially  in  the  design  of  a  house, 
often  defeats  its  own  end.  The  prospective  builder, 
having  read  somewhere  that  a  certain  point  is  essen- 
tial, fails  to  recognize  the  fact  that,  in  his  particular 
case,  it  may  not  only  be  unessential,  but  actually  detri- 
mental. Having  it,  however,  "on  authority,"  he  is 
inclined  to  doubt  the  ability  or  the  integrity  of  the 
architect  who  advises  against  it.  Considerable  allusion 
has  been  made  elsewhere  in  this  book  regarding  the 
"advice"  of  one's  friends.  In  this  last  chapter  the 
writer,  recalling  many  instances  in  which  "friendly," 

304 


PLANS  AND  DETAILS  305 

but  absolutely  ignorant  or  prejudiced  advice  lias 
wrecked  a  building  project,  feels  impelled  to  make  this 
one  last  mention  of  it.  It  is  the  one  most  distressing 
factor  which  the  architect  has  to  contend  with  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  and  which  the  client  has  to 
contend  with  in  formulating  his  ideas. 

Nor  does  the  writer  wish  to  commit  the  same  offence 
of  officiousness,  and  would  far  prefer  that  the  prospec- 
tive builder  regard  the  following  paragraphs  as 
"things  to  think  about,"  and  not  as  advice.  The 
thoughtless  " adviser"  is  apt  to  forget  that  what  is  one 
man's  meat  is  another  man's  poison,  and  that  the  very 
suggestion  which  might  vastly  improve  one  house  might 
entirely  blight  another.  To  the  prospective  builder, 
without  experience  or  training,  all  advice  is  the  same — 
that  of  his  friends  and  of  the  popular  magazine  articles. 
The  mistake  he  usually  makes  is  in  failing  to  lay  all 
his  doubts  and  fears  before  his  architect — the  man  for 
whose  trained  professional  opinions  and  guidance  he 
is  paying  a  fee. 

Certain  features  of  plans  exist  irrespective  of  the 
style  of  the  house,  while  certain  other  features  are 
influenced  by  style  or  by  some  other  factor. 

Proceeding  on  this  fact,  it  might  be  stated  that  pro- 
vision for  the  individual's  family  needs  will  govern  the 
plan  in  any  case,  be  it  large  or  small,  regular  or  irregu- 
lar. Certain  features  which  he  personally  desires  will 
be  provided  for  whether  the  style  be  English  or  Italian, 
the  cost  $10,000  or  ten  times  that  amount. 

Beyond  this,  however,  the  very  basis  of  the  plan 
may  be  dictated  by  the  historic  style  of  the  house,  or 
by  the  site  it  is  to  occupy.    A  house  of  formal,  balanced 
design  would  ill-grace  a  rocky  hill-top,  even  if  it  could . 
be  practically  carried  out,  whereas  such  a  site  should 


306  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

at  once  dictate  a  house  of  irregular  and  picturesque 
plan,  in  conformity  with  the  irregular  and  picturesque 
exterior  aspect  it  should  present. 

While  it  is  never  advisable  to  " develop"  a  plan 
from  an  exterior,  it  is  evident  that  certain  types  of 
exterior  will,  to  some  extent,  govern  the  plan,  and 
certain  exterior  features  will  need  to  be  provided  for 
within.  The  proper  procedure  is  to  develop  plan  and 
exterior  coincidently,  so  that  each  logically  expresses 
the  other.  Such  development,  carried  out  with  perfect 
balance  and  harmony,  is '  *  architecture, ' '  and  is  the  kind 
of  dual  designing  which  the  architect's  training  has 
taught  him  to  perform.  The  amateur's  tendency  is  to 
visualise  only  the  plan,  or  only  the  exterior,  with  the 
result  that  when  plan  and  exterior  come  to  be  worked 
together,  many  features  will  be  found  incongruous, 
incompatible  or  inconsistent,  and  will  need  to  be 
changed.  The  problem  is  not  unlike  that  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  successive  floor-plans,  which  must  not  only 
be  convenient  and  logical  in  themselves,  but  in  relation 
with  each  other. 

The  relationship  of  plan  to  style  is  more  obvious, 
and  even  an  amateur  realises  that  a  Southern  manor, 
for  example,  which  presents  superficially  a  central 
colonnaded  portico  with  two  uniform  wings  on  either 
side,  must  present  within  a  plan  possessing,  funda- 
mentally, symmetry.  A  rambling  English  country 
house,  on  the  other  hand,  expresses  by  its  informality 
and  irregularity  the  fact  that  its  plan  is  full  of  unex- 
pected turns,  with  wings  splaying  off  from  the  main 
house  at  angles,  and  with  no  system  of  axial  balance 
or  alignment. 

In  this  relationship,  the  prospective  builder  must 
remember  that  some  degree  of  consistency  should  be 


PLANS  AND  DETAILS  307 

observed — if  he  wishes  a  picturesque  and  irregular 
exterior,  he  cannot  expect,  within,  a  symmetrical  and 
axial  plan :  if  his  dreams  have  centred  about  a  quaint, 
rambling  plan,  full  of  unexpected  architectural  vaga- 
ries, he  must  dismiss  all  thought  of  anything  resem- 
bling a  classic  Georgian  exterior. 

Governing  the  entire  proposition  of  the  plan,  how- 
ever, should  be  the  actual  practical  needs  of  the  family 
which  is  to  occupy  it.  And  in  order  to  secure  the  best 
results  from  the  architect's  work,  the  prospective 
builder  should,  at  the  outset,  acquaint  the  architect 
with  every  detail  of  the  family  needs.  A  studio?  a 
nursery  or  play-room?  a  music-room?  a  study  or 
library? — these  requirements  must  form  the  basis  of 
the  plan,  if  the  house  is  to  be  an  abode  of  permanent 
satisfaction. 

The  plan  of  the  large  house  presents  comparatively 
few  difficulties.  Its  site  is  ample,  the  expenditure  for 
its  erection  is  ample,  and  the  architect  finds  it  a  rela- 
tively simple  matter  to  include  due  provision  for  his 
client's  every  need  and  requirement. 

The  plan  of  the  small  house  is  a  very  different  mat- 
ter, the  problem  resolving  itself  into  a  test  of  architec- 
tural ingenuity.  The  site  may  be  restricted,  the  expen- 
diture undoubtedly  is  restricted — the  architect's  task 
is  to  develop  a  pleasing,  convenient  and  adequate  abode 
in  spite  of  these  restrictions. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  usual  mistake  in  the  small 
house  plan  lies  in  lack  of  foresight,  and  the  result  is  a 
cramped  plan,  made  up  of  a  number  of  small  rooms. 
The  plan  of  any  small  house  which  is  intended  as  a 
permanent  abode,  should  be  definitely  laid  out  with  a 
view  to  future  enlargement  and  addition.  In  this  way 
it  is  possible  to  commence  building  operations  with  a 


308  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

smaller  amount  of  capital  than  would  otherwise  be 
necessary,  and  to  develop  the  house  in  a  perfectly  logical 
and  natural  way.  It  will  express  with  charming  direct- 
ness the  growth  of  the  family,  and  will  possess  for  all 
time  a  degree  of  symbolism  and  meaning  which  could 
be  attained  in  no  other  way. 

In  any  consideration  of  planning,  due  thought 
should  be  given  to  the  kind  of  interior  desired,  as  this 
may  materially  affect  the  shapes  of  some  of  the  rooms, 
or  the  layout  of  the  stair-hall.  Consideration,  too, 
should  be  given  to  the  furniture,  whether  this  is  already 
in  the  owner 's  possession  or  is  to  be  selected  after  the 
house  is  built. 

If  the  first  is  the  case,  and  the  furniture  is  of  good 
design,  the  furniture  should  govern  the  character  of 
the  interiors — an  appropriate  architectural  environ- 
ment should  be  created.  If  the  second  is  the  case,  the 
character  of  the  interiors  should  dictate  the  choice  of 
the  furniture — and  the  furniture  considered  in  relation 
to  the  architectural  setting  it  is  to  occupy.  As  a  prac- 
tical detail,  dimensions  of  any  large  pieces  of  wall- 
furniture  should  be  given  the  architect,  so  that  he  may 
provide  proper  places  in  the  plans.  This  bit  of  fore- 
sight may  save  expensive  alteration,  or  a  distressing 
incongruity  later.  In  point  of  style,  a  word  to  the 
architect  on  such  a  detail  as  either  possessing,  or  desir- 
ing, a  set  of  Chippendale  dining-room  furniture,  for 
example,  will  insure  the  proper  architectural  setting. 
The  relationship  between  architecture  and  furnishings 
should  always  be  visualised  as  vividly  as  possible,  for 
the  greater  the  variance  in  style  or  character,  the  less 
harmony  the  house  will  possess. 

It  should  be  remembered,  in  studying  dimensions 
on  the  plans,  that  furniture  will  make  all  the  rooms 


PLANS  AND  DETAILS  309 

seem  smaller,  and  some  thought  should  be  given,  in 
each  room,  to  the  possibilities  of  furniture  placement, 
and  the  effects  which  will  result.  An  extra  set  of 
blueprints,  indeed,  might  well  be  kept  apart  from  the 
others,  as  a  set  of  "  furniture  plans,"  the  location  of 
the  principal  pieces  in  each  room  being  sketched  in 
with  yellow  crayon.  The  scale  of  one-quarter  of  an 
inch  to  the  foot  (at  which  the  plans  are  drawn)  should 
be  followed,  so  that  the  actual  dimensions  of  wall  spaces 
would  be  known  in  advance.  A  bureau,  for  example, 
four  feet  wide,  would  be  sketched  an  inch  wide  on 
the  plans.  With  these  notations,  fully  worked  out,  a 
conference  should  be  had  with  the  architect,  who  may 
suggest  some  better  placement  of  the  furniture,  or  may, 
with  this  data  before  him,  find  it  advisable  to  make 
a  few  slight  alterations  in  the  plans.  How  often  a 
house  has  been  built,  and  the  lament  has  arisen:  "But 
there  is  no  place  for  our  big  sofa — what  a  stupid  archi- 
tect"— and  no  thought  was  given  to  the  fact  that  the 
architect  had  never  been  told  that  there  existed  a  "big 
sofa."  He  has  many  abilities,  but  among  them  he  is 
not  a  clairvoyant. 

Beyond  the  important  question  of  considering  the 
relationship  of  architecture  to  furniture,  and  vice  versa, 
we  are,  perhaps,  trespassing  on  the  field  of  inte- 
rior decoration,  which  will  form  the  subject  of  an  entire 
book  in  itself,  issued  in  the  present  series. 

Reverting  to  the  provision  in  planning  which  should 
be  made  for  individual  needs,  it  is  well  to  remember 
that  herein  lies  an  important  difference  between  the 
"ready-made"  house,  and  the  house  which  is  specially 
and  intelligently  designed.  In  the  "ready-made" 
house,  there  will  be  no  studio  for  the  artist,  no  study 
for  the  writer,  the  doctor  or  the  lawyer.  There  will 


310  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

be  no  nursery,  or  play-room,  and  no  workshop  for  the 
man  who  finds  his  relaxation  in  craftsmanship  or 
carpentry. 

There  is  an  interesting  tendency  at  present  to  incor- 
porate the  garage  in  the  house  itself,  which,  if  skilfully 
compassed,  is  advantageous  and  convenient  in  the  small 
suburban  house  on  a  small  lot — the  owner,  of  course, 
his  own  chauffeur.  The  fire-hazard,  however,  should 
be  thought  of  by  all  but  the  ultra-careful  man. 

Among  desirable  plan  features  which  might  be 
listed  as  "reminders"  are  the  following:  rear  or  side 
entrance  for  the  children,  a  downstairs  wash-room  or 
lavatory,  ample  coat-closet  (preferably  with  a  win- 
dow), back-stairs  (or  at  least  a  stair  which  joins  the 
main  stair  part  of  the  way  up),  laundry  chute,  broom- 
closets  (easily  provided  for) — and  above  all,  a  large 
bath-room — two  of  them,  if  possible.  It  is  a  curious 
thing  that  even  in  the  modern  house  people  have  a 
notion  that  the  bath-room  may  well  occupy  any  small 
left-over  space  in  the  second-floor  plan,  whereas  it 
should  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  important 
features  of  the  second  floor,  and  planned  as  a  room, 
with  ample  windows  and  ample  floor-space. 

Despite  the  time-honoured  jokes  at  the  expense  of  the 
architect,  it  is  doubtful  if  his  plans  ever  omitted  closets. 
The  woman  usually  looks  at  the  " closet-room"  in  a 
plan  before  she  considers  any  other  feature — but  she 
should  remember  not  to  let  her  zeal  and  concern  in  this 
direction  cause  her  to  overlook  other  things  which  are 
quite  as  important.  Whether  or  not  as  a  result  of  the 
reiterated  accusation  of  the  feminine  client  anent 
closets,  it  is  a  fact  that  the  architect  of  to-day  is  more 
likely  than  not  to  plan  closets  which  are  actually  mag- 
nificent— really  large  enough  for  dressing-rooms,  and 


PLANS  AND  DETAILS  311 

often  provided  with  a  small  window.  For  purposes  of 
air  and  light,  the  closet  with  a  window  is  by  all  means 
an  advance  over  the  dark  ''poke-hole,"  its  contents 
lost  in  Egyptian  darkness,  and  never  ventilated.  If 
it  is  not  found  possible  to  make  the  closets  of  more 
than  usual  size  it  is  well  to  provide  a  small  store-room. 
This  is  sometimes  feasible  when  larger  closets  would 
largely  disturb  the  plan. 

In  general,  the  plan  should  be  studied  to  possess 
good  circulation,  good  access  from  room  to  room,  con- 
veniently located  bath-rooms,  no  narrow  or  dark  hall- 
ways— and  it  should  aim  to  make  the  most  of  vistas — 
of  the  glimpse  of  one  room  which  is  to  be  had  from 
another,  or  from  the  hall.  This,  of  course,  is  most  im- 
portant in  the  planning  of  the  first  floor,  and  will  lead 
to  a  careful  consideration  of  too  abruptly  mixing  diifer- 
ent  period  styles. 

An  "Adam  reception  room,"  a  "Jacobean  library" 
and  a  Georgian  dining-room  may  all  dwell,  with  other 
"period  rooms"  as  well,  beneath  the  ample  roof  of  a 
palatial  country  house,  but  there  is  danger  of  a  dis- 
tressing effect  in  such  catholicity  in  the  small  house, 
which  is  at  its  best  when  it  is  consistent. 

An  American  innovation  of  increasing  popularity 
is  the  "sleeping  porch,"  and  in  its  introduction  the 
architect  is  usually  called  upon  to  exercise  his  keenest 
ingenuity  in  making  the  necessarily  wide  and  unbroken 
openings  a  harmonious  part  of  the  exterior.  Another 
innovation  is  the  "solarium,"  or  sun-parlor,  which  is 
sometimes  nothing  more  than  a  glassed-in  porch,  opened 
to  the  air  in  summer,  but  is  often  made  a  distinct  room 
in  itself,  permanently  a  "solarium,"  with  a  fireplace, 
and  often  an  attractive  semi-outdoor  treatment  of 
"treillage"  on  the  walls,  and  tiles  on  the  floor. 


312  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

Two  other  plan-features,  however,  have  not  been 
developed  in  the  American  dwelling  to  a  fraction  of 
their  possibilities — the  patio  and  the  terrace. 

The  patio,  of  course,  suggests  a  moderately  large, 
or  a  very  large  house,  though  many  comparatively 
small  Californian  houses  have  been  built  about  three 
sides  of  a  garden  court,  or  entirely  surrounding  it. 
One  can  visualise  attractive  introduction  of  the  patio, 
if  reasonably  small,  covered  with  a  glass  roof  in  winter, 
and  taking  the  place  of  the  solarium.  A  patio  invaria- 
bly makes  for  an  interesting  plan,  and  a  plan  in  which 
virtually  all  the  rooms  may  have  lighting  from  both 
sides,  as  well  as  charming  glimpses  from  the  windows, 
especially  if  the  patio  boasts  of  a  fountain  or  a  pool, 
besides  its  floral  embellishment. 

In  speaking  of  the  terrace  as  a  neglected  oppor- 
tunity, reference  is  not  made  to  the  large  garden  ter- 
race, but  rather  to  the  terrace  which  is  really  little  more 
than  an  unroofed  porch.  If  placed  on  the  eastern  side 
of  the  house,  it  will  always  be  in  the  shade  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  afternoon,  and  if  it  is  planned  to 
adjoin  the  dining-room,  tall  French  windows  will  invite 
an  after-dinner  stroll  au  plein  air,  or  a  pleasant  retreat 
for  after-dinner  coffee.  Porches  are  often  omitted 
because  the  porch  roof  darkens  the  adjoining  room 
within,  although  it  might  otherwise  be  very  desirable 
to  have  greater  provision  for  the  enjoyment  of  a  splen- 
did view,  or  a  prospect  of  the  garden.  And  the  open 
terrace,  even  if  it  need  be  occupied  while  the  sun  is 
upon  it,  may  be  attractively  and  practically  enlivened 
by  two  or  three  large  umbrella-awning  or  canopy  tables, 
with  wicker  or  painted-wood  chairs. 

It  would  not  be  possible  to  enumerate  all  the 
features  of  a  set  of  house  plans  which  might  prove 


PLANS  AND  DETAILS  313 

desirable  or  attractive,  because  conditions  and  prefer- 
ences are  infinite  in  their  variety.  The  foregoing 
paragraphs  are  intended,  rather,  to  suggest  a  few  of 
the  more  pleasing  features  of  plans  which  are  not  appa- 
rent in  "ready-made"  or  ill-designed  houses,  and  to 
suggest  as  well,  that  many  of  these  features  may  easily 
and  inexpensively  be  incorporated  in  a  set  of  plans 
while  they  are  in  a  "formative"  state. 

In  the  same  manner,  and  with  the  same  intention,  a 
few  notes  on  special  details  will  now  be  presented. 

Eegarding  architectural  details,  be  it  said  in  gen- 
eral that  we  are  inclined,  in  America,  to  be  too  con- 
servative; we  are  inclined  to  look  too  much  at  our 
neighbours '  houses  before  we  build  for  ourselves.  Con- 
sistency is  admirable,  but  the  expression  of  a  little 
individuality  may  save  consistency  from  degenerating 
into  monotony.  In  details  both  inside  and  out  most 
American  houses  show  very  little  imagination,  and 
reflect  no  specific  personality.  The  same  is  true  of 
plans.  It  seems  unfortunate  that  even  the  casual? 
passer-by  should  be  able,  from  a  glance  at  the  average 
American  house,  to  know  exactly  how  the  rooms  within 
are  arranged.  The  modern  English  dwelling  is  full  of 
architectural  surprises — if  anything,  individuality  and 
irregularity  are  carried  to  extremes  which  are  some- 
times not  entirely  desirable. 

Reverting  to  our  subject  in  hand,  however,  the  pros- 
pective builder  will  avoid  a  certain  amount  of  confusion 
if  he  remembers  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  detail— 
exterior  and  interior,  and  that  both  these  details  are 
again  divided  into  two  kinds — details  of  design,  and 
details  of  material. 

Good  procedure  in  deciding  upon  certain  details,  if 
one  be  reasonably  familiar  with  them  through  pictures 


314  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

or  observation,  is  to  make  a  list  for  exterior  and  inte- 
rior, and  for  design  and  material.  It  is  obvious  that 
ultimate  choice  in  matters  of  detail  will  be  governed  by 
several  conditions,  such  as  style,  cost,  efficiency  and 
the  like,  but  it  is  well  to  seek  some  means  by  which 
one  will  not  fall  into  the  mistake  and  inevitable  con- 
fusion of  thinking,  at  the  same  time,  of  the  design  of 
a  chimney  and  the  hardware  on  a  closet  door.  A  simple 
system  of  listing  may  save  the  prospective  builder  from 
forgetting  some  very  important  detail,  which,  remem- 
bered at  a  later  stage  of  the  work,  will  necessarily 
be  figured  in  as  an ' '  extra. ' ' 

Let  it  be  assumed  that  the  style  and  material  of  the 
exterior  have  been  finally  settled  upon,  and  that  the 
prospective  builder  is  relying  upon  his  architect  to  see 
that  all  ordinary  matters  of  construction  are  properly 
carried  out.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  no  prospective 
builder  (unless  he  has  built  before)  possesses  sufficient 
knowledge  to  make  intelligent  suggestions  in  such  mat- 
ters as  excavation,  mason  work,  framing  or  finished 
carpentry.  There  are,  however,  a  number  of  things  he 
would  like  to  take  up  with  his  architect  for  discussion, 
and  for  probable  inclusion  in  the  drawings  and  specifi- 
cations— and  these  things  the  architect  would  be  decid- 
edly glad  to  know  at  the  start.  It  should  always  be 
remembered  that  the  more  an  architect  knows  about  his 
client's  requirements  and  wishes,  the  better  service  he 
is  able  to  render. 

It  is  suggested,  therefore,  that  the  prospective 
builder  prepare  two  lists,  each  subdivided  as  indicated 
above,  and  that  he  embrace  in  these  lists  all  those  points 
upon  which  he  wishes  to  obtain  the  architect's  profes- 
sional opinion  and  advice.  Some  details  he  may  find 
too  expensive  to  come  within  his  limited  expenditure — 


PLANS  AND  DETAILS  315 

others  he  may  be  pleasantly  surprised  to  find  are  not 
nearly  so  expensive  as  he  had  always  supposed. 

The  following  lists  cannot  attempt  to  include  every 
detail  in  which  every  prospective  builder  might  be  inter- 
ested— it  is  intended  merely  to  show  the  form  in  which 
such  lists  might  well  be  prepared,  and  to  offer  as 
reminders  certain  details  which  are  frequently  over- 
looked until  too  late,  in  concern  and  attention  directed 
upon  the  more  general  aspects  of  the  house.  These 
lists,  then,  may  be  curtailed  or  amplified  by  the  pros- 
pective builder  to  fit  his  particular  case — their  only 
fixed  essential  being  their  form,  or  division  into  details 
exterior  and  details  interior,  and  each  of  these  into 
details  of  design  and  details  of  material. 

The  style  of  the  house,  its  general  material,  and  the 
disposition  of  the  plan,  as  stated  above,  are  assumed 
to  have  been  decided  upon  before  the  preparation  of 
these  detail  lists.  It  will  be  seen  upon  a  survey  of  the 
following  details  that  certain  of  them  involve  coincident 
consideration  of  design  and  material,  one  influencing 
the  other. 

EXTERIOR  DETAILS — DESIGN 

Moulded  brick,  terra-cotta,  tiles.  Exterior  ornament: 
Ironwork.  Plasterwork. 

Weather-vanes  and   sun-dials.  Carving. 

Shutters.  Chimneys  and  chimney  pots. 

Windows:  Gutters    and    rain-leaders. 

Bays,     casements,     and     French  Screens  and  awnings. 

windows.  Walks. 

Porch,  door-hood,  etc.  Terraces  and  courtyards. 

Front  door  and  its  hardware.  Fountains  and  pools. 

Lanterns.  Treillage  and  trellises. 
Potted  bay-trees.  Flower-boxes. 

Pergolas. 


316  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

EXTERIOB  DETAILS — MATERIAL 

Moulded  brick,  terra-cotta,  tiles.         Paint  or  stain  for  trim  and  side- 

Roof-tiles  and  slates.  walls. 

Thatched  roof  effects.  Gutters,  flashings  and  leaders. 

Special  face  brick.  Copings — terra-cotta,  stone,   slate, 

Texture  and  color  of  stucco.  tile. 

Paint  or  stain  for  trim  and  shut-      Walks,  terraces,  courtyards, 

ters.  Tile,  brick,  flag,  cement. 

Before  presenting  a  similar  dual  list  of  certain 
interior  details  of  design  and  material,  it  might  be  of 
value  to  amplify  the  above  list  with  a  few  brief 
comments. 

Many  exteriors  may  be  given  added  interest  by 
even  slight  departures  in  detail  from  the  commonplace. 
Interesting  effects  have  been  obtained  in  brick  and 
stucco  houses  by  the  use  of  moulded  bricks  for  such 
details  as  the  divisions  between  windows  (mullions), 
or  for  window-sills  and  other  horizontal  courses. 
Moulded  terra-cotta,  also,  either  unglazed  or  with  a 
1  'matt"  surface,  and  red,  white  or  polychrome  in  color, 
may  often  be  happily  introduced  in  panels,  friezes, 
spandrils  or  lunettes,  especially  in  the  stucco  house. 
Here  great  interest  may  be  added,  and  the  only  caution 
is  to  concentrate  any  such  embellishment  in  certain 
places  rather  than  have  it  scattered  confusingly  about. 
Window-heads,  for  instance,  may  be  enlivened  by  the 
introduction  of  coloured  terra-cotta,  or  a  gorgeous 
coloured  frieze  may  well  be  placed  up  in  the  shadow  of 
the  overhanging  eaves.  In  some  instances,  it  may  be 
permissible  or  even  commendable  to  introduce  cement 
casts  of  ornamental  placques,  cartouches  or  bas-reliefs 
in  a  wall  of  stucco,whether  or  not  there  is  also  a  certain 
amount  of  brick  work.  Houses  derived  from  Spanish 
or  Italian  types  are  the  most  appropriate  for  such 
embellishment. 


PLANS  AND  DETAILS  317 

Tiles  are  of  several  kinds,  broadly  divided  into  tiles 
structural  and  tiles  decorative.  Despite  the  division, 
each  kind  may  partake  of  the  uses  of  the  other.  The 
most  familiar  structural  tile  is  the  square  red  tile 
(called  a  "quarry  tile,"  from  the  French  carre, 
square).  This  tile  is  usually  seen  used  as  a  flooring 
for  terraces,  court-yards,  roof-gardens,  sun-rooms  and 
the  like,  though  other  effective  uses  have  'been  evolved, 
such  as  quarry-tile  window  sills,  or  quarry-tiles  inlaid 
in  stucco  walls  to  break  the  monotony  of  uniform 
surface. 

Decorative  tiles,  of  which  a  great  many  fascinating 
varieties  are  made  to-day,  may  find  an  equal  variety 
of  equally  fascinating  uses  in  stucco  houses.  Spanish 
architecture,  especially,  is  characterised  by  its  exten- 
sive use  of  decorative  tiles,  which  bespeak,  in  the  build- 
ings of  old  Castile,  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  of  the 
Moorish  influences. 

Exterior  iron  work  is  to  be  considered  as  appro- 
priate only  to  houses  of  brick,  stone  or  stucco.  To 
place  an  iron  railing  on  a  wooden  house  is  obviously 
incongruous. 

Many  peculiarly  interesting  effects  may  be  obtained 
by  the  judicious  introduction  of  iron  work,  at  compara- 
tively small  expense.  Delicate  iron  railings  and  iron 
grilles  form  one  of  the  most  charming  features  of 
Spanish  architecture,  as  well  as  of  Italian  architecture, 
though  to  a  lesser  extent.  Brick  Georgian  architecture 
has  also  an  associated  type  of  iron  work  which  adds 
remarkably  to  design  in  this  style. 

Thought  of  weather-vanes  and  sun-dials  (built  ver- 
tically into  a  wall)  suggest  at  once  the  English  country 
house — and  it  is  by  virtue  of  the  introduction  of  such 
seemingly  inconsequential  " architectural  incidents" 


318  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

that  the  English  country  house,  both  early  and  modern, 
attains  much  of  that  quality  of  the  picturesque  which 
we  sometimes  seek  (in  vain)  to  emulate. 

The  design  of  shutters  is  of  special  importance  in 
modern  adaptations  of  any  of  the ' '  American  Colonial ' ' 
types  of  dwelling.  The  earliest  American  houses  had 
solid  shutters  for  all  their  windows,  for  actual  protec- 
tion against  the  Indians,  and  later,  as  a  sort  of  surviv- 
ing custom  or  habit,  only  the  first  floor  windows  had 
solid  shutters,  while  the  upper  windows  had  none,  or 
lighter  ones.  Certain  designs  were  used  as  patterns 
for  the  apertures  cut  in  the  solid  shutters,  and  these 
varied  according  to  locality  and  period.  Notably  there 
were  half-moons,  hearts,  acorns,  trees,  shields,  dia- 
monds, spades  and  clubs.  In  the  simple  house  of  local 
stone,  or  of  white-painted  clapboards,  there  is  little 
opportunity  for  interesting  detail,  and  charming  effects 
have  been  obtained  by  the  application  of  a  little  ingenu- 
ity and  resource  in  the  revival  of  these  old  shutters, 
with  their  quaint  hinges,  stops  and  latches. 

Of  window  design  there  is  much  to  be  said — indeed 
the  question  is  too  important,  as  a  whole,  to  class  as  a 
''detail."  Bay-windows,  however,  may  properly  be 
regarded  as  details,  as  well  as  casement  and  French 
windows.  In  general,  the  grouping  or  massing  of 
windows  is  to  be  recommended,  on  grounds  of  more 
pleasing  appearance,  exterior  as  well  as  interior. 
Three  windows  together,  furthermore,  seem  to  admit 
more  light,  and  to  create  an  impression  of  greater  space 
in  a  room  than  the  same  three  windows  separated  by 
wall-space. 

The  story  of  the  casement  window  has  been  written 
in  many  magazine  articles,  and  has  become,  after  years 
of  misunderstanding,  a  reasonably  familiar  one  to  the 


•  f 


Duhriiig,  Okie  &  /.ic-jrler.  Architects 

QUAINTLY     ARRANGED     DOORS     AND     WINDOWS     GIVE     CHARACTER     TO     THE 

DETACHED  DWELLING 

Such  details  as  the  above  are  the  result  of  imaginative  design  rather  than  extra  expenditure 


Barry  Parker  and  Raymond  L'nwin.  Architects 


TWO  TYPICAL  EXAMPLES  OF  THE  MODERN  ENGLISH  COUNTRY  HOUSE 
No  architects  have  excelled  the  English  in  the  contrivance  of  dwellings  designed  in  the  vein 
of  the  picturesque.  Irregular  plans,  correspondingly  irregular  roof-lines,  and  the   prevalent 
use  of  casement  windows  are  important  contributory  factors 


PLANS  AND  DETAILS  319 

prospective  builder.  No  one  can  deny  that  the  case- 
ment window,  whether  of  wood  or  metal,  is  by  far  the 
most  picturesque  of  all  windows.  It  is,  in  fact,  one  of 
the  most  important  single  details  contributory  to  the 
charm  of  the  English  country  house.  Casement  win- 
dows, perhaps,  are  a  little  more  difficult  to  clean  than 
double  hung  windows,  but  even  this  comparatively 
slight  objection  is  overcome  if  each  unit  is  kept  within 
an  eighteen-inch  width  limit.  Not  only  for  practical 
reasons,  but  in  point  of  design  it  is  far  more  desirable 
to  mass  a  number  of  small  casement  units  to  fill  a 
large  window  opening,  than  to  attempt  to  make  each 
casement  awkwardly  large  and  wide. 

The  use  and  popularity  of  casement  windows  has 
been  largely  increased  by  the  yearly  improvement  of 
casement  hardware,  and  by  the  manufacture  in  Amer- 
ica of  metal  casements.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  no  one  of 
the  objections  commonly  put  forward  against  casement 
windows  should  be  regarded  as  valid  by  anyone  who 
really  wishes  to  install  them  in  a  house. 

The  introduction  of  French  windows,  which  are, 
in  fact,  glass  doors,  will  be  found  to  add  a  noticeable 
degree  of  light  and  a  sense  of  spaciousness  to  any 
room,  besides  affording  convenient  access  to  porches 
and  terraces.  French  windows  may  be  made  perfectly 
secure  by  equipment  with  "Cremorne  bolts,"  which 
operate  from  a  knob  or  handle  (placed  as  a  door-knob) 
metal  rods  which  lock  into  pockets  in  the  sill  and  head 
of  the  window-opening. 

The  porch,  of  course,  should  be  very  carefully  con- 
sidered in  detail,  and  the  prospective  builder  cannot 
direct  too  much  study  or  observation  upon  various 
kinds  of  porches  and  front  doors  in  order  to  determine 
exactly  what  type  he  wishes.  Certain  styles  of  house 


320  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

naturally  dictate,  to  some  extent,  the  design  of  the 
porch,  though  even  if  this  be  the  case,  there  is  likely  to 
be  a  certain  amount  of  detail  to  determine.  A  Dutch 
door,  cut  horizontally  in  the  centre,  is  more  expensive 
to  build  than  a  solid  door,  and  should  be  decided  upon 
at  once,  if  the  house  is  of  a  style  to  render  it  suitable. 
Hardware  is  an  important  detail  in  connection  with 
the  front  door,  and  should  be  given  a  careful  study. 
Nor  should  the  door-light  be  forgotten,  whether  it  be 
some  quaint  wrought-iron  lantern,  or  a  simple  electric 
bowl  or  globe  to  guide  the  visitor's  steps  at  night.  Few 
simple  accessory  details  can  contribute  more  to  the 
effectiveness  of  an  entrance  than  a  pair  of  formal  bay- 
trees,  planted  either  in  boxes  or  large  terra-cotta  jardin- 
ieres, while  an  alternative,  especially  appropriate  to 
the  entrance  of  any  house  of  Latin  derivation,  is  the 
placement  of  a  pair  of  large  Spanish  or  Italian  water- 
jars,  now  reproduced  in  glazed  terra-cotta. 

If  a  pergola  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  house, 
rather  than  of  the  garden,  its  detail  should  be  taken 
up  with  the  architect,  because  such  items  make  expen- 
sive "extras,"  and  might,  with  but  little  thought,  be 
included  in  the  first  estimate. 

Exterior  ornament  plays  no  very  great  part  in 
American  domestic  architecture,  and  certainly  is  not 
used  in  the  manner  of  the  English  architects.  Orna- 
ment merely  for  the  sake  of  ornament,  of  course,  is 
never  desirable,  and  in  any  case  it  should  be  applied 
both  sparingly  and  intelligently.  Ornament  for  the 
sake  of  decoration  may  often  add  distinct  interest  to 
an  exterior.  A  beam  or  bracket  may  be  carved,  or 
incident  may  be  affected  by  the  English  device  of  orna- 
mental exterior  plaster  work.  Surface  ornament  is 


PLANS  AND  DETAILS  321 

often  a  feature  of  the  '  'modernist"  houses  of  the  Amer- 
ican Middle  West,  and  often  one  of  their  most  attractive 
details.  Here,  however,  the  motifs  are  intentionally 
unhistorical  and  unprecedented,  while  more  conserva- 
tive possibilities  are  to  be  discovered  through  a  study 
of  modern  English  work. 

A  very  important  detail  of  exterior  design  is  the 
chimney,  which  may  make  or  mar  the  whole  exterior 
aspect.  There  are  endless  possibilities  for  picturesque 
proportion  and  detail,  regardless  of  the  material  of 
the  house  itself.  A  chimney,  to  be  sure,  is  a  utilitarian 
feature  which  is  nothing  more  than  a  smoke-stack, 
though  this  is  no  reason  why  its  architectural  treatment 
should  be  keyed  down  to  the  level  of  the  commonplace. 
Every  historic  type  of  building  has  its  characteristic 
type  of  chimney,  and  any  chimney  may  be  made  highly 
interesting.  The  "chimney-pots,"  so  familiar  in  all 
English  buildings,  are,  from  the  practical  point  of  view, 
intended  to  aid  the  drafts  of  each  flue  by  narrowing 
the  top  aperture  and  lessening  the  chance  of  downward 
gusts  of  wind — besides  which  they  effect  an  agreeable 
termination  to  the  otherwise  blunt  chimney-top. 

In  considering  gutters  and  rain-leaders,  little 
expression  of  design  has  characterised  these  fittings 
of  the  American  house  as  compared  with  those  of 
England.  Much  interesting  design  was  lavished  on 
architectural  metal  work,  especially  in  lead,  in  the 
English  country  house  from  late  Tudor  and  Elizabethan 
times  onward.  The  *  *  leader-head, ' '  where  two  or  more 
gutters  converged  into  one  rain-pipe,  were  often  very 
elaborately  detailed  with  ornament,  dates  or  heraldic 
devices.  One  reason,  no  doubt,  which  has  discouraged 
great  elaboration  of  leader-heads  in  our  own  country 


322   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

houses,  is  the  fact  that  these  are  ordinarily  made  of 
zinc  or  painted  tin,  and  are  consequently  not  permanent 
like  the  heavy  lead  work  of  England. 

The  prospective  builder  will  find  it  well  to  devote 
a  little  consideration  to  the  question  of  screens  and 
awnings  at  an  early  stage  of  his  house  design,  by  this 
forethought  avoiding  later  complications,  and  later 
introduction  of  equipment  which  will  fail  to  conform 
harmoniously  with  the  entire  building.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say  that  every  door  and  window  in  the 
house  should  be  screened. 

Walks,  terraces  and  court-yards  might  all  be  con- 
sidered together,  both  in  questions  of  design  and  mate- 
rial. In  such  details  as  these  the  English  country 
house  usually  excels  the  American  country  house. 
Even  a  short  paved  walk  from  a  street  entrance  to  the 
front  door  may  be  made  a  charming  and  interesting 
detail,  if  it  has  been  studied  and  treated  as  a  part  of 
the  house. 

Although  fountains  and  pools  may  come  more  prop- 
erly under  the  head  of  garden  design  than  under  the 
architect's  part  of  the  work,  the  prospective  builder 
will  do  well  to  consult  the  architect  in  this  connection, 
for  he  will  receive  much  excellent  advice.  If  a  pool  or 
fountain  be  part  of  the  design  of  a  patio,  or  of  a  ter- 
race, it  should  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  house 
design,  and  definitely  referred  to  the  architect.  Most 
architects  are  the  best  judges  of  this  kind  of  garden 
detail,  and  if  a  pool,  for  example,  be  included  in  the 
architect's  design,  it  will  naturally  have  a  closer  and 
more  effective  relation  to  the  house  than  if  it  were 
carried  out  later  by  another  designer. 

In  the  design  of  the  stucco  house,  or  of  the  white- 
painted  clapboard  house,  treillage  and  trellises  may  be 


PLANS  AND  DETAILS  323 

made  a  highly  significant  part  of  the  scheme,  adding 
detail,  colour  and  interest  to  bare  wall-surfaces,  even 
before  vines  attain  effective  growth.  Treillage,  re- 
garded purely  as  a  decorative  device,  has  but  very 
recently  come  to  be  properly  appreciated  in  this  coun- 
try, although  the  writer  is  familiar  with  a  number  of 
admirable  examples,  skilfully  designed  and  very  effec- 
tively employed.  Many  houses,  too,  have  been  quite 
transformed  by  flower-boxes,  especially  if  these  have 
been  provided  for  trailing  plants  or  vines,  whose  leaves 
and  tendrils  cover  large  wall  spaces.  Flower-boxes 
and  curiously  shaped  jardinieres,  intended  for  trailing 
plants,  have  formed  a  very  conspicuous  detail  in  the 
designs  of  many  of  the  "modernist"  houses  of  the 
Middle  West  and  the  Pacific  Coast. 

The  above  paragraphs,  taking  up  individually  the 
several  details  listed  as  "Exterior  Details  of  Design," 
are  intended  only  to  suggest  in  what  manner  the  pros- 
pective builder  may  most  effectively  study  the  sub- 
sidiary parts  of  his  house  design.  Rules,  obviously, 
would  be  worse  than  useless  in  such  matters,  where 
the  best  procedure  must  always  be  dictated  by  personal 
fancy,  stylistic  suitability,  cost  limitation  and  the  archi- 
tect's  advice,  and  a  service  is  performed  if  only  the 
prospective  builder  will  feel  impelled  intelligently  to 
notice  and  observe  these  and  similar  details  in  pictures 
and  in  houses  with  which  he  is  familiar. 

Among  exterior  details  of  material,  there  will  arise 
questions  of  choice  relative  to  roof-tiles  and  roof-slates, 
moulded  brick,  terra-cotta  and  structural  tiles.  If  a 
shingle  roof  is  called  for,  the  several  types  of  fireproof 
asbestos  shingles  should  be  investigated — or  perhaps 
there  may  be  a  desire  for  a  shingle  roof  devised  in  an 
effect  of  thatch.  This,  of  course,  will  be  found  more 


324  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

expensive  than  a  plain  shingle  roof,  and  should  be  so 
recognized  at  the  start. 

One  of  the  most  important  selections  and  decisions 
on  exterior  detail  of  material  may  be  relative  to  the 
kind  of  "face-brick"  to  be  used.  The  many  varieties 
of  special  "texture"  bricks,  of  special  colours  and 
shapes,  are  quoted  at  various  prices  per  thousand,  and 
the  prospective  builder  will  do  well  to  familiarise  him- 
self with  them  either  as  used  in  an  actual  house,  or  by 
comparison  from  samples  in  the  architect's  office.  It 
might  be  remembered  that  the  architect  is  always  able, 
by  virtue  of  his  specifications,  to  require  the  contractor 
to  lay  up  a  small  section  of  wall ' '  on  approval, "  to  be 
passed  on  by  himself  and  the  owner  to  insure  such  spe- 
cific details  as  colour  of  mortar,  and  width  and  nature 
of  mortar  joints.  The  entire  house,  then,  is  specified 
to  be  built  in  strict  accordance  with  this  sample. 

The  same  is  true  of  stucco,  whether  applied  on  a 
hollow  tile  wall  or  on  a  frame  wall  with  wire  lath.  Here 
the  detail  question  will  be  one  of  colour  and  of  texture, 
which  may  be  obtained  to  conform  exactly  with  the 
owner's  and  architect's  requirements,  before  it  is 
applied  to  any  part  of  the  house  itself.  If  any  doubt  or 
uncertainty  exists  in  the  prospective  builder's  mind, 
either  as  regards  the  effect  he  wishes,  or  the  con- 
tractor's ability  to  produce  a  specific  effect  he  has  in 
mind,  exact  results  are  most  certainly  insured  through 
this  expedient  of  experiment  and  demonstration  by 
means  of  a  small  section  of  "specimen"  wall. 

In  the  house  of  brick,  stone  or  stucco,  the  question 
of  painting  or  staining  arises  only  in  connection  with 
the  trim  and  shutters,  but  as  these  are  the  only  wooden 
details  in  the  design,  their  colour  should  receive  the 
most  careful  attention.  If  the  roof  is  not  of  slate  or 


Buliring,  Okie  ,t  /icgler,  Architects 

MODERN  AMERICAN  "REAL  ESTATE"  HOUSES 

Agreeable  appearance  has  been  combined  here  with  ingenious  planning.     Each  building 
contains  four  houses  under  one  roof 


A  ROW  OF  HOUSES  IN  THE  FAMOUS  ENGLISH  "MODEL  VILIAGE"  OF 
LETCHWORTH 

English  architects    thanks  to  English  property  owners,  have  been  several  years  ahead  of  Ameri- 
can architects  in  the  design  of  model  villages  and  suburban  neighbourhood  planning 


Willis  Polk,  Architect 

THE  APPLICATION  OF  ARCHITECTURE  TO  BUILDINGS  OF  STRICTLY 

UTILITARIAN  CHARACTER 

It  is  apparent  here  that  such  buildings  as  this  power-house  may  be  made  edifices  of  distinct 
beauty  as  well  as  of  practical  utility 


PLANS  AND  DETAILS  325 

tile,  there  will  be  the  question  of  shingle  stain,  unless 
it  is  intended  to  let  the  shingles  weather  to  silver  grey, 
dark  grey  and  finally  to  a  colour  nearly  approaching 
black. 

The  material  for  gutters,  flashings  and  rain-leaders 
is  a  point  for  consideration  at  an  early  stage  of  the 
prospective  builder's  study  of  detail.  Heavily  painted 
tin  is  the  least  expensive,  and  also  the  least  durable. 
Zinc,  galvanised  tin  or  galvanised  iron  possess  more 
durability,  at  little  greater  cost.  Copper  is  the  ideal 
material,  very  expensive,  but  likely  to  last  without 
replacement  or  repair,  as  long  as  the  house.  The  use 
of  heavy  sheet  lead  for  these  necessary  metal  trimmings 
of  every  house,  as  in  England,  is  exceedingly  rare  in  this 
country.  In  Europe,  entire  roofs  of  lead -are  often 
seen — by  all  means  an  enduring  material,  though  pro- 
hibitively expensive  for  all  ordinary  uses. 

If  the  house  is  of  such  a  character  that  there  are 
brick  or  stone  gable  ends,  or  walls  which  require  coping, 
detail  of  material  again  comes  up  in  the  form  of  the 
several  possibilities  of  terra-cotta,  stone,  slate  and  tile 
—the  choice  usually  dictated  by  style  and  by  the  mate- 
rials used  in  the  house  itself. 

Brick,  tile,  cement  and  irregular  flag-stones  offer 
themselves  as  materials  for  choice  in  the  construction 
of  walks  or  the  paving  of  terraces  and  court-yards,  and 
here  again,  the  general  character  of  the  house  may  be 
a  distinct  factor  in  the  selection,  and  this  "  detail  of 
material"  will  be  found  very  closely  related  to  the 
question  of  design. 

After  a  tabulation  and  study  of  these,  and  many 
other  details,  both  of  design  and  of  material  as  related 
to  the  exterior  of  the  house,  the  prospective  builder 
may  consider  himself  ready  to  direct  his  attention  to 


326  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

details  of  design  and  of  material  and  equipment  as 
related  to  the  interior,  and  may  prepare  as  a  reminder, 
a  list  more  or  less  as  follows : 

INTEBIOE  DETAILS 

Design  Equipment 

Entrance  vestibule.  Hardware. 

Entrance  hall.  Lighting  fixtures. 

Stairway.  Plumbing  fixtures. 

"  Special  rooms."  Bath-room  equipment. 

Fireplace  and  mantel-pieces.  Kitchen  and  laundry  equipment. 

Provision  for  furniture.  Heating  system. 

Glass  doors  and  mirror  doors. 
Types  of  door  throughout. 
Special  windows:  leaded,  etc. 
Panelling. 

Figured      plaster      ceilings      and 
friezes. 

INTERIOR  DETAILS — MATERIAL 

Mantels:  wood,  tile,  brick,  stone.  Pa'ints,  stains,  varnishes,  waxes. 

Tile  floors.  For  trim  and  floors. 

Natures  and  costs  of  woods.  Plaster-paints,  etc. 

For  floors.  Wall-paper. 

For  finish. 

It  might  be  said  in  general,  speaking  not  only  of 
materials  and  equipment  of  the  interior,  but  of  the 
exterior  as  well,  that  the  prospective  builder  may 
acquire  a  wealth  of  data  and  illustration  by  writing  to 
those  manufacturers  who  advertise  in  the  numerous 
popular  magazines  devoted  to  home-building  and  coun- 
try life.  All  manufacturers  who  so  advertise  have 
spent  large  sums  of  money  in  the  preparation  of  what  is 
known  to  the  advertising  world  as  "consumer  litera- 
ture," or  catalogues  and  booklets  setting  forth  in 
detail,  by  illustration,  descriptive  matter,  and  testi- 
monial, the  natures  and  merits  of  their  products. 
"While  all  such  matter  is,  of  course,  to  be  regarded  as 


PLANS  AND  DETAILS  327 

advertising,  it  contains  a  wealth  of  valuable  infor- 
mation and  instruction,  offering,  as  well,  data  for 
comparison. 

And,  having  studied  all  such  catalogues  and  booklets 
on  various  building  materials  and  equipment,  the  pros- 
pective builder  has  at  his  service  the  benefit  of  the 
professional  knowledge  and  actual  experience  of  his 
architect,  who  will  be  able  to  advise  and  recommend 
which  of  the  several  details  may  be  best  or  most  eco- 
nomically incorporated  in  the  specifications  of  the 
house. 

The  entrance  vestibule  and  entrance  hall  may,  per- 
haps, have  been  duly  studied  in  the  plans,  or  left  to  be 
studied  when  the  plans  are  drawn — it  is  spoken  of  in 
this  chapter  as  a  "detail"  because  it  may  be  intended 
to  floor  it  with  tile,  or  to  devise  some  special  arrange- 
ment of  coat  closet  or  lavatory  in  connection  with  it. 
The  entrance  hall,  too,  might  be  floored  with  tile,  which 
has  recently  been  used  considerably  for  this  purpose, 
and  with  admirable  success. 

The  stairway  will  usually  prove  to  be  the  most  diffi- 
cult problem  for  the  amateur  planner,  and  while  no 
very  great  success  will  probably  attend  his  efforts  at 
making  a  drawing  for  it,  it  is  at  least  well  for  him  to 
have  devoted  some  thought  and  observation  to  the 
subject. 

"Special  rooms,"  while  not  strictly  to  be  classed 
among  details,  nevertheless  involve  special  considera- 
tions and  special  equipment  in  the  matter  of  hardware, 
lighting  fixtures,  mantel-pieces  and  the  like.  This  is 
particularly  true  of  "period"  rooms,  or  of  any  room 
which  departs  from  a  "typical"  character. 


328  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

It  should  be  apparent  that  fireplaces  and  mantel- 
pieces are  questions  of  detail  upon  which  the  pros- 
pective builder  should  have  fairly  definite  ideas.  The 
fireplace  itself,  consisting  of  the  actual  mason  work, 
will  involve  considerations  of  width  and  depth,  accord- 
ing to  the  kind  of  fuel  which  is  likely  to  be  used ;  and  its 
construction  may  or  may  not  call  for  stock  throats  and 
ash-dumps  of  cast-iron.  The  architect,  however,  will 
be  found  to  be  fully  informed  on  these  points.  The 
mantel-piece,  which  is  the  architectural  frame  for  the 
fireplace,  is  to  be  dually  considered  as  a  question  of 
design  and  material,  each  influencing  the  other  to  some 
extent,  and  the  whole  design  being  influenced  to  some 
degree  by  the  general  style  or  character  of  the  house 
as  well  as  of  the  room  in  which  any  given  mantel-piece 
is  to  be  constructed. 

At  this  point  might  come  some  consideration  of  the 
furniture — either  already  owned,  or  to  be  acquired 
after  the  house  is  built,  and  while  the  study  of  placement 
may  not  be  so  accurately  carried  out  as  it  can  be  on 
the  working  quarter-inch  scale  blueprints,  it  may  at 
least  take  the  form  of  a  list,  made  up  of  the  various 
rooms  to  be  furnished,  each  listed  separately.  While 
furniture  is  being  thus  itemised,  rugs  might  also-  be 
thought  of,  as  well  as  any  large  family  portraits  or 
important  paintings,  since  proper  provision  may  thus 
better  be  made  in  the  working  drawings.  While  the 
plans  are  being  drawn,  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  place 
two  doors,  for  example,  in  such  relationship  with  each 
other  that  there  will  be  a  perfectly  proportioned  space 
between  them  in  which  to  hang  a  large  painting.  If 
the  placement  of  the  painting  is  an  afterthought,  the 
space  will  either  be  a  permanently  inharmonious  setting 


PLANS  AND  DETAILS  329 

for  the  painting,  or  its  alteration  to  fit  will  necessitate 
troublesome  changes  on  the  drawings  or  expensive 
changes  in  the  actual  building. 

Pursuing  the  list  of  suggested  details,  the  question 
of  doors  next  engages  the  attention  of  the  prospective 
builder,  and  it  will  be  well  to  list  the  bed-room  or  bath- 
room doors  which  will  be  full  mirror  doors,  and  to  know 
that  these  may  be  had,  ready  made,  in  stock  sizes  which 
are  by  no  means  expensive.  The  mirror  door  is  an 
excellent  adjunct  for  the  small  room  especially,  saving 
the  space  of  a  cheval  glass,  besides  increasing  the  ap- 
parent size  of  the  room.  And  no  guest-room  should  be 
without  a  mirror  door,  even  if  the  glass  be  placed  on  the 
inside  of  a  closet  door. 

Another  type  of  mirror  door  is  of  familiar  use  in 
most  modern  hotels,  bat  by  no  means  inappropriate  for 
certain  uses  in  a  private  dwelling — the  mirror  door 
divided  into  small  panes  (the  divisions  called  "mun- 
tins").  This  type  of  mirror  door  may  be  very  cleverly 
used  in  connection  with  clear  glass  doors  which  are  also 
divided  into  small  panes.  Let  us  suppose  a  dining- 
room,  where  a  pair  of  small-paned  doors,  of  clear  glass, 
separate  the  room  from  the  hall,  and  other  similar 
doors  give  upon  a  porch  or  sun-parlor.  There  are  still 
other  doors,  to  closets,  perhaps,  as  well  as  the  service 
door  to  the  kitchen.  Here  mirrors  may  be  used  instead 
of  clear  glass,  the  similar  detail  of  the  small  panes  ef- 
fecting a  harmonious  door  equipment  for  the  whole 
room.  This  type  of  door  is  not  to  be  had  ready-made, 
but  must  be  detailed  by  the  architect,  and,  if  not  thought 
of  in  advance,  would  necessarily  constitute  an  " extra." 
For  the  other  doors  throughout  the  house,  a  variety  of 
excellently  built  " stock"  or  ready-made  doors  will  be 


330  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

found — the  merit  of  their  design  increasing  yearly,  with 
the  same  advance  which  has  marked  all  "stock"  build- 
ing equipment,  including  furniture. 

While  studying  the  question  of  doors,  windows  will 
also  come  under  consideration,  and  thought  should  be 
given  regarding  which  windows,  if  any,  will  be  of  a 
"special"  nature — as  casement  windows,  French  win- 
dows, or  windows  with  leaded  panes,  or  small  diamond- 
shaped  panes,  or,  in  fact,  any  type  of  window  which  is  a 
departure  from  the  regular  stock  double-hung  window, 
the  product  of  the  ' '  sash  and  blind  factory. ' ' 

Wood  panelling  in  any  of  the  rooms,  whether  simple 
or  elaborate,  should  obviously  be  included  in  the  ' '  inte- 
rior detail ' '  list,  and  should  be  taken  up  with  the  archi- 
tect early  in  the  plan-drawing  and  estimating  for  the 
house.  While  panelling  is  an  interior  detail  involving 
greater  expense  than  the  plain  plaster-finish,  it  is  by  no 
means  so  expensive  as  many  prospective  builders  sup- 
pose, especially  in  small  rooms  and  hallways. 

The  English  type  of  figured  plaster  ceiling  has  been 
increasing  in  popularity  and  use  in  this  country,  and, 
together  with  the  figured  plaster  frieze,  or  a  figured 
plaster  beam-treatment,  may  prove  an  important  and 
effective  detail  in  certain  rooms  of  the  house.  Some 
excellent  figured  plaster  ceilings  are  obtainable  in  stock 
designs  accurately  based  on  fine  historic  models,  while 
in  other  cases  the  architect  will  design  a  special  ceiling 
to  meet  special  requirements. 

With  these,  and  other  points  of  detail  listed  for  dis- 
cussion with  the  architect,  and  for  investigation  of  cost 
and  practicality,  the  prospective  builder  may  make  his 
list  of  interior  details  of  equipment. 

In  the  matter  of  hardware,  he  will  find  a  remarkable 
variety  of  really  good  "stock"  designs  on  the  market, 


PLANS  AND  DETAILS  331 

and  these  designs  he  will  be  able  to  study  in  elaborately 
illustrated  catalogues  which  are  supplied  to  architects, 
and  he  will  be  able  in  every  case  to  secure  samples  on 
approval  through  his  architect.  Good  hardware  is  not 
cheap,  and  cheap  hardware  is  not  good,  so  it  is  well  for 
the  prospective  builder  to  make  as  liberal  a  "hardware 
appropriation"  as  possible.  The  lower  grades  of 
cheap  hardware  would  be  dear  at  any  price,  while  ' '  high 
medium"  and  "high"  grades  of  hardware  may  be  re- 
garded in  the  light  of  an  investment,  giving  a  per- 
manent additional  value  to  the  house,  besides  giving 
far  greater  satisfaction  in  utility  and  appearance. 

The  same  facts  are  true  of  lighting  fixtures,  which, 
if  poorly  chosen,  may  mar  the  effect  of  an  otherwise 
pleasing  interior.  And  in  the  field  of  "stock"  lighting 
fixtures,  as  well  as  of  "stock"  hardware,  a  great 
advance  in  meritorious  design  has  been  made  in  the 
last  ten  years,  so  that  the  consideration  of  "special" 
hardware  or  lighting  fixture  is  exceedingly  rarely  met 
with. 

Plumbing  fixtures  are  made  in  several  grades,  of 
which  even  the  "lower  medium"  to-day  are  consider- 
ably better  than  the  best  of  twenty  years  ago,  and  of 
which,  however,  the  best  grades  to-day  are  not  to  be 
regarded  as  too  good  for  installation  in  the  house  which 
is  being  built  with  ample  expenditure.  There  is  an 
excellent  variety  in  the  items  now  offered  for  bath-room 
equipment,  and  its  importance  in  the  comfort  and  con- 
venience of  the  home  should  make  it  a  detail  of  prime 
importance  in  the  planning  of  any  house,  whether  large 
or  small.  Kitchen  arid  laundry  equipment,  whether  or 
not  entirely  in  the  province  of  the  architect,  should 
have  its  place  on  the  preliminary  detail  list,  as  it  will 
involve  a  certain  expenditure  which  should  be  approxi- 


332  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

mately  established  in  advance.  The  aim  of  modern 
equipment  for  kitchen  and  laundry  is  toward  the 
development  of  " household  efficiency,"  and  comprises 
a  variety  of  electrical  inventions,  as  well  as  labour- 
saving  "kitchen  cabinets"  and  the  like,  and  artificial 
drying  closets  and  other  devices  for  the  laundry — all  of 
which,  if  one  be  thorough  in  the  compilation  of  detail 
lists,  may  well  be  investigated  and  duly  listed. 

Last,  but  not  least  (and  usually  taken  up  very  seri- 
ously with  the  architect),  is  the  heating  system,  which 
cannot  receive  too  much  thought  or  careful  attention, 
since  it  makes  or  destroys  the  comfort  of  the  whole 
house.  Special  study,  in  this  connection,  should  be 
given  to  exposures  and  to  the  heating  of  any  rooms 
which  seem  likely  to  present  difficulties — rooms  built 
over  porches,  or  in  wings  where  two  or  three  of  the 
walls  are  outside  walls.  Every  room  of  this  kind 
should  be  provided,  if  possible,  with  an  ample  open 
fireplace  in  addition  to  the  general  heating,  and  every 
possible  precaution  should  be  taken  to  avoid  the 
"always  cold"  room  which  has  so  greatly  distressed 
many  a  householder — and,  as  well,  many  a  guest  be- 
neath his  roof. 

It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  it  is  always 
possible  to  encounter  some  abnormal  condition,  and  that 
the  best  which  can  reasonably  be  expected  of  architect 
and  builder  is  a  thorough  and  conscientious  considera- 
tion of  every  knowable  point  involved  in  specifying, 
laying  out  and  installing  the  heating  system. 

It  will  be  found  upon  study  and  acquaintance  that 
details  of  material  are  often  inseparably  involved  with 
details  of  design,  as  was  suggested  in  a  foregoing  para- 
graph relating  to  mantel-pieces,  and  the  same  is  true 
of  many  other  details  as  well. 


PLANS  AND  DETAILS  333 

Floors,  however,  involve  consideration  of  material 
rather  than  of  design,  and  it  will  be  well  for  the  pros- 
pective builder  to  acquire  this  part  of  his  information 
from  the  architect,  who  will  be  in  a  position  to  present 
samples  and  data  on  various  woods.  Not  only  are 
there  several  kinds  of  wood  ordinarily  used  as  material 
for  floors,  but  each  kind  is  marketed  in  varying  grades, 
intended  for  use  in  different  kinds  of  buildings.  The 
architect's  specification  should  be  absolutely  definite 
on  this  point,  and  the  client  should  be  given  his  choice, 
on  cost  and  durability  basis,  of  the  kind  of  flooring  he 
will  buy.  As  in  most  questions  of  detail,  specific  advice 
is  dangerous,  and  may  well  prove  misleading.  It  should 
be  remembered,  however,  that  floors  are  an  exceedingly 
important  detail  in  any  house,  and  are  an  unwise  direc- 
tion in  which  to  practise  economy,  if  economy  be 
necessary. 

Woods  for  general  interior  trim — door  and  window 
frames,  base-boards  and  the  like — form  a  subject  for  a 
special  study  in  themselves.  Distributors  of  such 
native  American  woods  as  cypress,  red  gum,  pine,  fir, 
California  redwood,  etc.,  have  prepared  interesting 
booklets  for  the  prospective  builder,  wherein  are  set 
forth  the  various  properties  of  the  several  woods  com- 
monly used  for  interior  finish — their  possibilities  and 
limitations,  as  well  as  various  ways  in  which  they  may 
be  stained  and  finished  to  preserve  the  effect  of  the 
grain,  or  may  prove  suitable  as  a  base  for  paint  or 
enamel. 

Information  derived  from  such  sources  will  prove  of 
great  interest  and  value  to  the  prospective  builder,  who 
has  always  his  architect  to  whom  to  go  as  a  court  of 
last  resort,  if  too  much  data  has  led  to  mental  con- 
fusion in  the  matter  of  choice.  In  any  case,  the  pros- 


334   THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

pective  builder  should  make  himself  reasonably  famil- 
iar with  the  more  commonly  used  native  American 
woods,  and  be  able  to  distinguish  one  from  another,  by 
sight  and  by  personal  preference.  Each  kind  of  wood 
has  its  individual  set  of  recommendations,  based  on 
considerations  of  cost,  availability,  suitability,  appear- 
ance and  finishing  possibilities,  and  all  these  should 
govern  intelligent  choice,  whether  independently,  or  in 
conference  with  the  architect. 

Questions  relating  to  paints,  stains,  varnishes  and 
waxes  will  naturally  arise  in  connection  with  the  study 
of  woods  for  interior  finish — and  here  several  of  the 
larger  and  more  progressive  manufacturers  have  devel- 
oped for  prospective  builders  and  architects  a  service 
which  goes  further  than  the  mere  preparation  of  printed 
matter.  These  manufacturers  will  send  samples  of 
any  desired  finish  on  any  wood  capable  of  receiving 
such  a  finish,  and  will  even  make  up  samples  using 
pieces  of  the  wood  which  will  actually  be  used  for  the 
interior  finish  of  a  given  house.  Each  sample  is  accom- 
panied by  detailed  instructions  for  its  proper  appli- 
cation by  the  painter,  so  that  no  room  for  uncertainty 
or  possible  disappointment  is  left.  It  should  be 
obvious  that  such  a  method  of  determining  wood  fin- 
ishes throughout  the  house  excels  in  value  any  amount 
of  undirected  general  advice.  Varying  conditions  call 
for  varying  finishes,  so  that  it  is  as  impossible  as  it 
would  be  futile  to  offer  random  advice.  Modern  tastes 
in  wood  finishing  favour  the  aid  of  artifice  to  nature  in 
bringing  out  the  natural  beauties  of  grain  and  some- 
times of  texture,  characteristic  of  different  woods.  In 
this  connection,  a  paragraphic  reminder  of  former  igno- 
rance and  bad  taste  is  introduced — allusion  to  a  practice 


PLANS  AND  DETAILS  335 

as  indefensible  as  the  once  popular  practice  of  painting 
brick  work — the  old  deception  of  painting  wood-grains. 

We  need  not  look  far  to  find  still  in  existence  exam- 
ples of  this  once  highly  esteemed  art  of  " graining,"  by 
which  a  dexterous  painter  (taught  to  excel  in  this  par- 
ticular kind  of  artistic  knavery)  could,  with  a  few  skil- 
ful strokes,  make  your  soft  pine  door  as  of  strangely 
and  wonderfully  figured  oak  or  Circassian  walnut — a 
thing  of  monstrosity  and  a  crime  forever.  Encouraged 
by  their  success  in  this  direction,  the  painters  (often 
with  misguided  skill)  fabricated  rare  marbles  on  plaster 
or  wood,  quarrying  these  from  their  paint-pails.  But  we 
must  not  blame  them,  for  the  "architects"  of  that  time 
allowed  them  to  do  these  horrible  things,  and,  we  are 
to  suppose,  even  encouraged  them. 

An  interior  finish  of  recent  development  is  the 
so-called  "plaster-paint,"  intended  for  use  on  "sand- 
finished"  plaster  walls  where  no  wall-paper  is  to  be 
hung.  The  finishes  exist  in  many  varieties,  and  in  har- 
monious colours,  and  are  finding  wide  acceptance  in  the 
interiors  of  the  American  homes  of  to-day.  The  pros- 
pective builder  should  decide  which  of  his  rooms,  if  any, 
are  to  be  papered,  and  with  what  paper,  and  should 
make  similar  decisions  regarding  plaster-paints.  All 
such  questions  duly  studied  and  resolved  at  the  begin- 
ning will  increase  the  certainty  of  securing  the  com- 
pletely satisfactory  house. 

The  writer  wishes  to  repeat  an  earlier  statement 
that  the  questions  of  plan  and  detail  briefly  discussed 
or  merely  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  paragraphs  are 
not  to  be  taken  as  constituting  a  list  in  any  sense  com- 
prising every  point  of  detail  which  will  arise  in  the 
contemplation  of  every  house.  Such  a  list,  obviously, 
would  be  both  involved  and  dangerous.  It  has  been 


336  THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

the  intention,  rather,  to  outline  a  plan  of  systematic 
thought  on  the  part  of  the  prospective  builder — syste- 
matic thought  designed  to  perform  the  valuable  ser- 
vice of  defining  his  ideas  and  directing  his  personal 
observation  of  detail  in  such  a  way  as  to  eliminate  as 
much  oversight  as  possible,  and  to  make  for  greater 
effectiveness  in  preliminary  conferences  with  the 
architect. 

Everyone  about  to  build  a  house  is  confronted  by  a 
problem  which  is  personal  and  individual,  despite  its 
conformity  with  certain  rules  and  observances  of  com- 
mon or  general  application. 

The  writer  has  always  considered  as  distinctly 
' '  dangerous ' '  the  greater  part  of  the  definite  ' i  advice ' ' 
usually  offered  to  prospective  builders,  in  books  and 
magazine  articles,  for  the  reason  that  no  latitude  is 
allowed  for  special  conditions  which  arise  in  the  course 
of  every  building  project.  It  should  be  regarded  as  of 
greater  value  to  outline  a  method  by  which  each  pros- 
pective builder  may  do  his  own  thinking,  sharpen  his 
own  observation,  widen  and  define  his  own  knowledge, 
rather  than  to  present  him  with  a  general  dictum  (pos- 
sibly applicable)  which  he  is  directed  to  follow  blindly 
and  without  regard  to  specific  individual  conditions. 
An  ounce  of  personal  understanding  and  intelligent 
thought  is  worth  a  ton  of  arbitrary  rule,  and  it  is  with 
this  conviction  in  mind  that  every  prospective  builder 
should  approach  his  problem. 

He  should  know  when  his  own  preference  and  judg- 
ment are  his  best  guidance,  and  should  know,  by  the 
exercise  of  what  he  has  learned,  when  he  had  better 
turn  toward  experienced  professional  advice  and 
judgment. 

It  has  been  the  consistent  intention  of  this  book  to 


PLANS  AND  DETAILS  337 

treat  of  the  subject  of  architecture  in  a  practical  way— 
to  remove  it  from  the  realm  of  mystery  and  technicality, 
and  to  make  it  seem,  in  every  respect,  a  vital  and  inter- 
esting part  of  the  life  of  every  one  of  us.  A  familiarity 
with  architecture,  even  if  it  be  slight,  will  open  many 
doors  of  interest,  and  will  enrich  that  intellectual  equip- 
ment which  is  generally  known  as  a  liberal  education. 
Whether  or  not  any  individual  contemplates  building, 
or  assuming  any  responsible  advisory  connection  with 
any  building  project,  let  him  look  upon  architecture  as 
an  open  book,  its  chapters  stretching  back  into  the  past, 
its  development  being  written  in  the  present,  and  its 
future  dependent  upon  the  efforts  of  our  architects,  and 
upon  an  ever-increasing  understanding  and  apprecia- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  public. 

"Si  monumentum  requiris  .    .    .   circumspice." 


INDEX 


Abacus,   74,  75 

Adam,   Brothers,  R.  and  J.,  22,  84, 

85,  87,  90,  140,  142,  178 
in  modern  hotel,  217 
Adaptability,  of  materials,  277 
of  wood,  284 
of  stucco,  285 
of  rough-dressed  stone,  296 
Advertising,    of    building    products, 

32C,  327 
"Advice,"  misleading,  151,  153,  226, 

233,  235-236,  304-305,  336 
Alberti,  63 
American     Architecture,      Colonial, 

etc.,  173,  202 
Amiens,  Cathedral  of,  56 
"  Andalusia,"  191 
Anglo-Pennsylvania,  189 
Anne,    Queen,    style,    so-called,    69, 

84,  140 
Annulets,  75 

Apartment  house,  the,  218-220 
Apse,  42,  48 

Arch,  30,  Roman  use  of,  37,  77; 
Byzantine,  reoessed,  41;  Assyr- 
ian, 44;  Gothic  pointed,  48;  Nor- 
man, 52;  Renaissance,  use  of,  64, 
65,  66 
Architect,  the,  227;  proceeding 

without,   232-233 
employment  of,  233 
selection  of,  239 
architectural   partnerships,  239- 

240 

selection    of,    for    public    build- 
ings, etc.,  241 
"  specialists,"  242 
status    of,    and    dealings    with, 

244  et  seq.,  254 
time  spent  on  work,  246-247 
legal  forms  of  agreement  with, 

254-257 

Architect,  the  landscape,  270 
Architecture,  definition  of,  15-16; 
understanding  of,  17-19;  appre- 
ciation of,  19;  evolution  in,  20; 
expressive,  24 ;  appropriate,  24 ; 
structure,  detail,  mass,  28;  types 
of  building,  28 


Architrave,  74-76 

"Art   Nouveau,"  21,   103,   199,  202, 

203-205,  206 
Assyria,  architecture  of,  32-33 

summary  of  architecture  of,  44 
Atrium,  36 

Atterbury,  Grosvenor,  147 
Attributes.  81,  83 
"Audley  End,"  136 
Austin  Hall,  111 
Availability,  local,  279 

of  bricks,  293 

of  rough  stone,  297 
Awnings,  322 
Axis,  95,  97 

B 

Bagatelle,  Chateau  de,  82 
Baillie-Scott,  145 
Bar  Harbor,  199 
Baroque,  70,  78-81 
Bartolommeo,  63 
Bath-room,   310-311 

equipment,  331 
Bay-trees,  formal.  320 
Beaux  Arts,  French  Ecole  Nationale 
des,  81,  82,  84 

outline  of,  94-96 

teachings  of,  96-98 

detail,  98-100 

influence  of,  101-102' 

examples  of,   102-105 

aims  of,  97-111,  168-169 

fagade  of  Grand  Central  R.  R. 

Terminal,  221 

Bellevue-Stratford,  (see  Hotel) 
Bidlake,  145 
Bids,   259-261,   272 
"  Biltmore,"  167 
Blois,  Chateau  de,  57 
Blue-prints,  267 
Boston  Public  Library,  159 

courtyard  of,  171 
Bramante",  63,   159 
••  Bramhall."    136 
Brick,  Egyptian,  30,  44 

Assyrian,  32-33 

Byzantine,  use  of,  46 

German  Gothic,  use  of,  59 

in  Romanesque,  revival,  112 
339 


340 


INDEX 


Brick,  English,  domestic  use  of,  136 

"Harvard,"    180-181,   289-290 

burnt,  180-181 

early  American,  184,  290 

patterns  on  blank  walls,  213 

"  special,"  291-293 

building  in,  288-294 

painted,  288,  291 

pattern  in,  290 

moulded,   316-322 

colour,  291,  292 

house   of,   cost,   etc.,   275,    281 
293 

samples,  324 

face,  324 

texture,  290-292,  323 
Bruges,  town  hall,  58 
Brunelleschi,   63,    159 
Bryn    Mawr    College,    122 
Bulfinch,  Charles,  177-178 
Bungalow,  198,  200-202 
Burgos,  Cathedral  of,  57 
Burlington,   Earl   of,    140-141 
Buttress,  48,  49,  137 

flying,  30,  48,  57,  129 
Byzantine,  Architecture,  etc.,  38-44 

summary  of  architecture,  44 

conflict  with  Gothic  in  Italy,  61 

"Revival,"  106-114 


Ca'd'Oro,  Palazzo  della,  61 

Cambridge,  122 

Campanile,  211 

Capitals,  Byzantine,  41,  45;  Gothic, 
49;  Doric,  74;  Ionic,  75;  Corinth- 
ian, 75 

Caracalla,  Baths  of,  96,  160 

Carolinas,  The,  190 

Cartouche,  99,  103 

Caryatid,  Flemish  Renaissance,  67 

Casa,   172 

Catalogues,  etc.,  326,  327;  hard- 
ware, 331;  woods,  333,  334 

Cathedral,  typical  plan,  etc.,  47; 
Durham,  52;  Chartres,  56; 
Rheims,  56;  Amiens,  56;  N6tre 
Dame,  56 ;  Burgos,  59 ;  Toledo,  59 ; 
Milan,  101;  St.  Paul's,  69;  St. 
Mark's,  107 

Ceilings,  Tudor,  137;  Elizabethan, 
138;  Adam,  142;  figured  plaster, 
326,  330 


Centennial,  Philadelphia,  196 

Century  Club,  161 

Character,  in  materials,  275-277 

in  brick,   292;    in  rough   stone, 

296 

Charges,  245-246,  248-249,  254,  257 
Chartres,  Cathedral  of,  56 
Chateaux,  Blois,  57 ;  Langeais,  57 
French  Renaissance,  67 
de  Bagatelle,  82 
adapted,     166;     life,     166-167, 

172;    in  modern  hotel,  216 
Chimeras,  Gothic,  50,  51 
Chimney-pots,  321 
Chimneys,  design  of,  321 
Chinese,  influence  of,  23,  79,  142 
Church,    early    Christian,     40;     St. 
Mark's,    40;     Byzantine,    41, 
45 ;  Gothic,  47 ;  Norman,  52 
of  Malines,  58 
S.  Maria  della  Salute,  64 
Trinity    (Newport),  179;   Trin- 
ity  (Boston),    109;    Madison 
Square,     113;     St.     Joseph's, 
113 

First,  Christ  Scientist,  Los  An- 
geles, 113;  New  England 
type,  179-180;  early  Ameri- 
can village,  179-180,  230; 
"Gloria  Dei,"  187 
Cincinnati  Chamber  of  Commerce, 

111 
City  house,  208-210 

modern    developments    of,    209- 

210 

Clap-boards,  176,  281,  285 
Classic  ideal,  origin  of,  34,  36,  73- 

105 

nature  and  meaning  of,  73 
in  England,  85 
Closets,  310,  311 
Collegiate  Gothic  (see  Gothic) 
College  of  the  City  of  New  York, 

122 
Colonial,  Georgian,  173-183;  Dutch, 

183-187 

adaptability  of  Dutch,  186-187; 
Southern,  190-193;  Spanish, 
193-195,  285,  318 

"  Colonnade  Row,"  88-89,  108,  196 
Colosseum,  77 
Colour,  Egyptian  use  of,  31 
Byzantine,  41 ;  Greek,  45 
in  Italian  Gothic,  61 
in  brickwork,  181,  290-292 


INDEX 


341 


Colour,  Dutch  Colonial,  185 

in  materials,  275,  278 

local,  278 

of  wood,  284 
Columbia     University,     Chapel     of, 

113 
Columns,  and  lintel,  29 

Egyptian,  30,  44 

Greek,  33-35,  44-45,  74-78 

Roman,  36,  37 

Byzantine,  41,  45 

Gothic,  49 

Renaissance,  G4,  G5,  72 

Doric,  74 

Ionic,  75 

Corinthian,  75 

of  wood,  284 
Competitions,  241-242 
Compiegne,  83 
Composite  Order,  77 
"  Compton  Wyngates,"  54 
Connecticut,  178 
Console,  99,  103 

Consultation,  247,  254,  248-250 
Contractor,  259-264 
"  Coombe  Abbey,"  136 
Coping,  325 
Corinthian  Order,   35;    Roman,   37; 

Greek,  75-77 
Cornice,  Doric,  76;   Ionic,  76,   112; 

Corinthian,  76-77 
Cost,  256,  275 

comparative,  of  materials,  281- 
283 

inherent,  279 

of  brick,  293 

in  building  materials,  181 

of  rough  stone,  297 

of  half-timber,  298 
Country-house,  origin  of,  53-55 

Elizabethan,  68,  135 

G'othic  derivation,  130-131 

English  type,  133 

Histoiry  of   the    English,    134- 
145 

Jacobean,  139-140 

Anglo-Classic,  141-142 

modern  English,  144-155 

summary   of   English  type,    156 

location,  material,  site,  225-243 

materials     and     construction, 
224-303 

plans  and  details,  304-334 
Courtyards,  322,  325 
"  Craftsman,"  198-200 


Cremorne  bolts,  319 

Creoles,   French  and  Spanish,  their 

architecture,     175,     185,    192-193, 

285 
Customs  House  of  New  York,  98 


Davanzat,  The,  64 

Dawber,    143 

Decoration,  Egyptian,  31,  44 

Assyrian,  44 

Greek,  45 

Roman,    45 

Byzantine,   46 

Romanesque,  46 

Spanish  Gothic,  59 

Gothic,  72 

Renaissance,   65,  72 

Fresco,  65 

Sgraffito,  65,  72,  158,  161 

"  Secessionist,"  205 
Decorator,  270-271 
Delaware,    174,    190 
Dentils,  Ionic,  76 

Corinthian,  76 

Derivations,  importance  of  study  of, 
23,  28 

Classic,   73-105 

Byzantine,     Romanesque     and 
Gothic,    106-131 

English,  early  and  modern,  132- 
156 

modern  English,   147-155 

Italian,   French,   Spanish,   157- 
172 

Italian,   157-166 

French,  166-169 

Spanish,   169-172 

era  of,  197 

scale,    267 

full-size,  267-268 
Despradellea,   102 
Details,   exterior   and   interior,   313 

design  and  material,  313 

discussion    of,    with    architect, 
314 

exterior,  design,  list,  315 

exterior,  material,  list,  316 

interior  design,  list,  326 

interior  material,  list,  326 

interior  equipment,  list,  326 
Directoire,  period  of  the,  82 
Doges,  Palace  .of,  61 
Dome,   Byzantine,   41,   45 


342 


INDEX 


Doors,  Dutch,   185,   187,  320 

hardware,  320 

light,  320 

mirror,  129 
Doric,  Order,  31,  33 

Roman,    36,    77 

Greek,  74,  75,  89 
Drawings,  preliminary,  253,  265,  273 

working,   253,   265,   266-269 

required,   265,  266-269 

14 -inch  scale,  266 

scale  details,  267 

full-size  details,  267-268 

ownership   of,   256 
Drives,  228 
Dry  wall,  295 
Duplex  apartment,  219 
Duquesne,    102 
Durability,  of  materials,  277 

of  frame  house,  283 

of  brick,  292 

of  stone,  296 
Durham,  Cathedral  of,  52 
Dutch,  Colonial,   183-187,  285 

doors,  185,  187,  320 

shutters,  185,  187,  318 

brick,   184 

interiors,  185,  186 

hardware,  187 

city  house  style,  208-209 

E 

Eastlake,  Charles,   143,  197 
Egypt,  architecture  of,  29-30 

summary  of  architecture  of,  44 
French  "  Empire  "  revival,  83 
in  modern  hotel,  216 
Elevations,   preliminary,   253 

%-inch  scale,  266 
Elizabethan,  55,  68,   131,  135-138 
Empire,  The,  Period,  French,  79,  82- 

83 

American,    88-90,    195-196 
Enlargement,  future,  of  plan,  307- 

308 

Entrance,  detail,  etc.,  327 
Entablature,  Classic,  74-75;   Doric, 
76;  Ionic,  76;  Corinthian,  76-77, 
104,  176 

Equitable  Building,  211 
Estimates,   252-253,   256 
contractors,  259-261 
Ethics,  professional, -247-248,  270 
canon  of,  American  Institute  of 
architects,  239,  270 


Evolution,  in  architecture,  20-21 
Expenses,  architect's  travelling,  254, 

258 

Expression,    259 
Extras,  249-252,  254 
Eyre,  Wilson,  147,  18.9 


Fan-light,  176 

Fee,  architect's,  254,  257-258 

Fieldstone,  294 

Finial  urns,  103 

obelisks,  140 
Fire-places,  328;  Gothic,  138 

Elizabethan,    138 

details    of,    328 
Flashings,  280,  325 
Fl&che,  280,  325 
Floors,   333 
Flutes,  fluting,  74,  75 
Fontaine,  83 
"  Fontainebleau,"  83 
Fountains,  322 
Frame,  house  construction,  282-286 

ehingle  covered,  225,  2&1 

clap-board  covered,  275,  281 

stucco  on  wire  lath,   275,   281, 

285-286 
Francis  First,  style  of,  67 

for  city  house,   209 
Fresco,  decoration,  65,  72,  142,  158 
Frieze,  Doric,  76;  Ionic,  76 

terra-cotta,    316 

figured   plaster,    326,    330 
"Full-size"    (see  Details) 
Furniture,  consideration  of,  309,  328 
Furring,  287 


Gables,  half-timber,  298-325;   Jaco- 
bean, 139 
Garage,  287,  310 
Garden,  Italian,  23 

Anglo-Classic,  85 

Anglo-Italian,    134 

garden  front,  153-154 

garden  front  of  Tangley  Manor, 
299 

American   derivation,    165-166 
Gargoyle,  Gothic,  50,  51,  57,  72 

Woolworth,  129 
Georgian,  Period,  The,  69 

Colonial  in  America,  86-88,  84- 
88,  140-143,  173-182,  189,  285 
German,  early  colonists,   187 


INDEX 


343 


German  Gothic,  58,  59,  72 

Classic  revival,  92-93 
Gibbons,  Grinling,  138 
Gibbs,    85,    140 
"  Gloria  Dei  "  Church,  187 
Gorham,    161 
Gothic,  38;  origins  of,  43 

analysis  and  outline  of,  47-G2, 
71 

English,  52-56,  71 

Norman,    52 ;    "  decorated,"    52 

"  Perpendicular,"  52 

"Collegiate"    (Scholastic),    55, 
56,  61,  114,  121-122 

French,  56-58,  61 

Flamboyant,  56,  57 

crockets,   57 

Belgian,    Flemish,    58,    61 

German,    58-59,    72 

Italian,  60-62 

Italian,   secular,   61,  62 

compared  with  Classic,  23 

Victorian   revival,   90,    91,    114, 
143 

"  carpenters,"   91 

"military,"    114,    122-124 

nature  of,   114-116 

symbolism  in,   116-121 

"  commercial,"  124-129 

English  country  house,  137 
Grain,  of  wood,  334 

imitation,   335 
Grand    Palais    des    Champs-Elysees, 

102,    103 

Grant's   Tomb,    105 
Greece,   architecture   of,    33-36 

summary  of  architecture  of,  44- 

45 

Groin,  vaulting,  43 
Grotesque,    Byzantine,    41;    Gothic, 
50-51,    57,    72;    modern    French, 
102;  Woolworth,  129 
Guilloche,  99,   103 
Gutters,  321,  325 

H 

Hacienda,    170 

"  1 1  addon   Hall,"   134,   138 

Half-timber,   Mediaeval,   55 

French  Gothic,  57,  61 

Elizabethan,   137-138,   197,  209, 
275,  278,  301 

cost  of,  281,  300 

imitation,  298-299 
"Hall,"  The,  134 


Hardware,  Dutch,  187,  326,  320,  330- 

331 

"Hardwick  Hall,"  134-135,  139 
Harvard,  house,  54 

University,  102-112 

style,   180-181 

for  city  house,  208 

brickwork,  289-290 
"  Hatfield  House,"  136 
Heating,  332 
"  Holdenby,"   136 
Holland,    184-185 

city  architecture,  208-209 
Hotel,  modern  American,  the 
Waldorf,  214 

theatrical  qualities  of,  214,  215 

"  special  rooms,"  215 

Bellevue-Stratford,   210 

Kitz-Carlton,  217 

Vanderbilt,  217 
Hudson,  183 


"  Independence  Hall,"  179 
Inscriptions,  Roman  use  of,  37 

Egyptian,  44 

Institute  of  Architects,  the  Ameri- 
can, on  competitions,  241 
for  information,  242 
minimum  charges,  258 
owner-architect  agreement,  offi- 
cial  form,   254-257 
owner  -  contractor       agreement, 

official  form,  261 

Instructions,   written,   245,   250-251 
Inwood,   90 

Ionic,   Order,   35,    75,   76 
Iron-work,  317 


Jacobean,   55,   69,    136-141 
Japanese  iniluence,  195,  205 
Jardinieres,   terra-cotta,   320 

modernist,  323 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  18,  191 
Jones,  Inigo,  69,  80,  136 

K 

Karnak,   30,   94 

Kauirmann,  Angelica,  85 

"Keep,"    134 

Kent,  William,  85,  140 

Kitchen,  equipment  of,  331-332 

Knickerbocker  Trust  Building,  161 

"Knole,"   136 


344 


INDEX 


"La    Grange    Terrace,"  88-89,  196 

Langeais,  Chateau  of,  57 

Langley,  Batty,  87 

Lantern,   179 

Laundry,  equipment  of,  331-332 

Leaders,   321,  322,  325 

Lighting,  267 

fixtures,  for  front  door,  320 

interior,   331 
Lindeberg,  H.  T.,  147 
Linenfold,  panelling,  137,  138 
Lintel,  29,  33,  35,  44,  45 
"  Local  conditions,"  235,  253 
Location,  226 

Loft  Buildings,  208,  212-213 
Loggia,  159,  161,  170,  171,  185 
Long  Island,  183 
Louis  XIV,   70,   79 

in  modern  hotel,  214 
Louis   XV,   70,   79 

in  modern  hotel,  214 
Louis   XVI,   70;    formal   phase,   81; 
details,   outline   and  analysis 
of   style,   81,   82,  96,   167-169 

in  modern  city  house,  208 

in  modern  hotel,  214 
Louisiana,    175,    192 
Louvre,  the,  79 
Lutyens,  145 
Lysicrates,  monument  of,  replica,  89 

Me 

Mclntyre,  Samuel,  177,  178,  185 
McKim,  Charles  Follen,  160 
McKim,  Mead  and  White,  111,  158, 
159,   196,  292 

M 

Madison  Square  Church,  113 

Maine,  178,  198 

Maintenance,  280 

of  frame  house,  286 

of  brick  hous*,  293 

of  rough  stucco  house,  298 

of  half-timber  house,  301 

Malines,  Church  of,  58 

"Malmaison,"  83 

Manor,  34 

Mansard  roof,  80,  92 

Mansart,  ,T.  H.,  79,  80 

Mantelpiece,  328 

Marquise,  100,  103 


Masque,  81,  102 

Material,   restrictions   in  choice  of, 

274,  275 

properties  of,  physical  and  aes- 
thetic, 275-278 

colour,  275,  278,  279 

local  suitability,  231 

field-stone,   231 

properties  of,  275 

character  in,  276 

durability,  277 

adaptability,   277 

mingled,  301-302 
Medici,  the,  64 
Mellor  and  Meigs,  147 
Metopes,  76 

Metropolitan  Museum,  98 
Metropolitan  Tower,  113,  211 
Middle  West,  321,  322 
Milan,  Cathedral  of,  61 
Military  Gothic    (see  Gothic) 
Mirror  doors   (see  Doors) 
Mission,  194-195,  200,  230-231,  287 
Models,  227,  228,  272-273 
Modernist,    202,    321 
Modillions,  Ionic,  76 

Corinthian,  76,  77 
Mohawk  Valley,  183 
"Montacute   House,"   136 
"  Monticello,"   18,   191 
"Moreton   Hall,"    134 
Morgan  Public  Library,  158 
Morris,  William,  144,  199,  200,  205 
Mosaic,  Byzantine,  41,  45 
Moulding,  Greek,  45 
Mullion,  112,  139 
Muntin,  139 

N 

Napoleon,  83 
Nave,   42,   47 
Neo-Classic,  82 
Neo-Grec,  82 

New  England,  Georgian,  86;  native 
types,  175-183;  suitable  style, 
229-230 
field-stone,  231 
New  Jersey,  174,  188 
New  Orleans,    185,    192-193 
Newport,  167-168,  197;  Casino,  198; 

Trinity    Church,    179 
New  York  (State),  174 
New  York  Public  Library,  98 
N6tre  Dame  de  Paris,  Cathedral  of, 
grotesque,  51 ;   cathedral,  56 


INDEX 


345 


"Ochre  Court,"  167 
Office   buildings,    Romanesque,   revi- 
val, 113 
Gothic      derivations,      124-129, 

208,   211-212 

Orders,   Classic,  the   three,   35;    Ro- 
man,   36-37;    74,    77;    Greek,   45, 
74-78 
Oxford,   122 


Pacific    Coast,    193-195,    198,    200 
Paint,  324 

plaster-paint,  335 
Palladian,  86 
Palladio,  63,  141,  159 
Pan-American  Union   Building,   171 
Panelling,    330 

"  linen-fold,"    137-138 
Patio,  origin  of,  36;    Spanish,   169, 
170,    171 

of  Pan-American  Building,  171, 
172;  Creole,  193 

possibilities  of  the,  312 
Payments,  255 
Pediment,   76,   85,   99,    100 

curved,   103,   176 
Pennsylvania,   174,  187-190 
Percentages,    257-258 
Percier,   83 
Pergola,    320 
Persian,    inlluence     on     Modernists, 

207 

Peruzzi,   63,   159 
Philadelphia,    179 

Pilasters,    of    "  La    Psalette,"    57 ; 
Renaissance,    65-66,    72;    Roman, 
77;   Jacobean,   138,   176 
Pittsburgh   Court  House,   111 
Placement    of    furniture    tfn    plan, 

308,  309 

Plans,      preliminary     consideration, 
236-237 

drawing  of,  266,  305-313 

kinds  of,  305,  306 

development  of,  306 

relationship  to  style,  306 

practical    needs,   307 

special   requirements,   307 

large,  307 

small,    307 

relationship   to   furniture,    308s' 
309,  328 


Plans,  "  reminders,"  310 

"special"  rooms  (period,  etc.), 

311,  327 

Platt,  Charles,  A.,  164 
Plumbing  fixtures,  234,  331 
Pools,  322 
Porch,   184,   185 

sleeping,  311 

design  of,  319 
Portico,  85,  190 
Post  Colonial,   195 
Post-office  (New  York  City),  98 
Princeton       University,       Graduate 

School  of,  122 
Projet,   Beaux-Arts,   95,  272 
"  Psalette,"  La,  57 


Quarry  tiles,  317 
Quoins,  176 


Railroad    terminals,    Pennsylvania, 
160,    208,    220,    221,    220-222 
Grand  Central,  220-221 
Ramp,  221-222 
"  Raynham   Park,"   136 
Real-estate    houses,    155,    156,    242- 

243 

Renaissance,   35,   37,   38 
English,  55 
dates,  39 
Florentine,  Milanese,  Venetian, 

Roman,    39 
"High,"   39 
"Late,"  39 

English,  55,  68-70,  136,  137 
outline  and  analysis,  62-71 
summary,   72 
origin  and  nature,  62-63 
expression,  63 
French,  67 

summary  of,  72 
Flemish,   67 

summary  of,  72 
German,  67 

summary   of,   72 
Spanish,   67 

summary   of,    72 
Italian,   summary  of,   72 
comparison  with  Classic,  73 
flexibility  of,   157 


346 


INDEX 


Renaissance,  for  modern  city  house, 
208 

in  modern  hotel,  218 
Revett    (and  Stuart),  *87,  90 
Revival,  Classic,  34,  35,  69,  78 

in  France,  78-84 

in  England,  84-85 

in  America,  86,  88-90 

decline  of,  in  England,  90-92 

in  Germany,  92-94 

under  Louis  XVI,  79-82,  105 

Georgian,    140-141 

Romanesque,  106-114 

nature  of,  Romanesque,   111 
Rheims,  Cathedral  of,  56 
Rhode  Island,  179,  197 
Richardson,  H.  H.,  104-114,  158 
Robinson  House,  177 
Rock-faced   (masonry) 
Rococo,  70,  78-81,  103 

in  modern  hotel,  216 
Roman   (see  Rome) 
Romanesque,  architecture,  etc.,  38- 
44 

summary  of  architecture  of,  46 

influence  on  Gothic  in  Italy,  61 

revival,  106-114 

characteristics,  107 

Richardsonian,  109 

nature  of  revival,  111 

expression    in    modern    church, 
113 

city  house,  209 

country   house,   114 
Rome,  architecture  of,  36-38 

summary  of  architecture  of,  45 
Roofs,  tile,  67,   169,   194,  197 

gambrel,  176 

Dutch,  183 

Mansard,  80,  92 

shingle,  176 

chateau,   on  modern  hotel,  216 

details  of  material,  323 
Rouen,  Palais  de  Justice,  57 
"Roughcast,"   188 
Ruskin,  John,  90-91,  108,  196 
Rustication,  89,  99,  104 


Sainte  Chapelle  Church,  56 

Salem   (Mass.),  doorways  of,  86,  87 

Samples,  249-250 

of  brick  and  brickwork,  324 


Samples,  of  stucco,  324 

of  paints,  stains,  varnishes,  334 
Scale,  24 

meaning  of,  25,  100,  101 

in  Woolworth  Building,  128-129 

in  tall  building  design,  212 

working  drawings,  265-267 
Schuyler,  Montgomery,  109-110 
Screens,   322 
Sculpture,  architectural,  Roman,  45 

modern  French,  100 
Secessionist,     American,     198,     199, 

202,   205-207 
Services,  architect's,  254 
Sever  Hall,  111,  112 
Sewage  disposal,  227 
Sgraffito,    decoration,    65,    72,    158, 

161 

Shaw,  Norman,  145 
Shingles,  275-281,  284 

stain,  325 
Shutters,  315,  318 
Site,  227-228,  230,  236,  253 
Solarium,  210,  311 
Spandril,   100 

Specifications,  233,  249,  261-265 
Stain,   324,  325,   334 
Staircase,  Elizabethan,  138 

details  of,  327 
Staten  Island,  183 
Stevenson  and  Wheeler,  147 
Stone,  rough-dressed,  275,  281,  294- 

298 
Stonemasonry,  early  Pennsylvanian, 

188,  294-298 

Stuart  (and  Revett),  87,  90 
Stucco,  Egyptian,  44,  170,  172 

on    hollow   tile,    275,   281,   285, 
287,  323 

samples  of,  329 

Style,   17,  21-24,   227,  230-231,  236 
Sub-contracts,  263-264 
Suitability,  local,  278,  286 

stylistic,   278 

of  frame  construction,  285 

of  brick,  293 

of  rough-dressed   stone,   296 

of  half -timber,  301 
Sun  dial,  317 
Sun  parlor   (see  Solarium) 
Supervision,  by  architect,   245-247, 

256,  258,  259 
Survey,  227,  255 


INDEX 


347 


Symmetry,  96,  97 

"  Swedes,"  Old  (Gloria  Dei  Church), 

187 

Swedish,  early  colonists,   187 
St.  Joseph's  Church,   113 
St.  Louis  University,  122 
Ste.  Maria  della  Salute,  Church  of, 

40 

St.  Mark's,  Church  of,  40,   107 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  69 
St.  Peter's,  Basilica  of,  64 
St.  Sophia,  Mosque  of,  107 


Tangley  Manor,  Great,  136,  299 

Tapestries,  137 

Technology,  Massachusetts  Institute 

of,  102 
Temples,  Egyptian,  29,  30,  44 

Assyrian,  44' 

rock-cut,   30 

Proto-Doric,   Beni-Hassan,  31 

Greek,  35,  36 

Roman,  37,  40 

garden,  85 

Terraces,  228,   312,   322,   325 
Terra-cotta,    112,   128,  316 

jardinieres,  etc.,  320 

Woolworth  Building,  127-128 
Texture,  275,  277,  278,  292,  296 
Thatch,  shinglfe  effects  in,  323 
"Thorpe  Hall/'  136 
Tiffany.  161 
Tile,  Assyrian,  33,  44 

Byzantine,  45 

Roofs,  67,   169,   194,   323 

hollow,    172,   215,   281,   286-288 

flooring,  317,  327 

structural  and  decorative,  317 

"quarry,"  317 

Spanish  use  of,  317 
Times   Building,    126 
Toledo,  Cathedral  of,  59 
Transept,  47 
Trcillagc,  311,  322,  323 
Trianons,  The,  82,  83 
Triglyphs,   76 
Trinity   Building,    126 
Trinity    Church     (Boston),    109 
Trinity  Church   (Newport),  179 
Trowbridge  and  Ackerman,   147 


Trusses,   137 

Tudor,  arch,  the,  53,  56,  137 

country  house,  54,  68,   134,  137 

collegiate   architecture,    55,    56, 
61 

collegiate    derivation,    122 

ceilings,  136 

leader-heads,   321 
Tuscan,  Order,  36,  77 

U 

United  States  Realty  Building,  126 
University  Club,  161 
University  of  Virginia,  191 


Vanderbilt    (see  Hotel) 
Vault,  vaulting,  Romanesque,  41-43, 
46 

rib,  42-43 

barrel,  42 

"  gjoin,"    43 

Gothic,  48 

English  Gothic,  52 

fan-vaulting,  53,  62 

Renaissance,   72 
Veranda,  201 
Verge-boards,  54 
Versailles,  79,  167,  168 
Victorian  Era,  84,  90 

Gothic  revival,  90-91,  114,  143, 

146 

Vignola,  74,  77 
Villa,  Pompeian,  29 

Roman,   37 

Italian,   22,    161-166,    172,   221, 

287 
Virginia,   190 

University   of,    191 
Vitruvius,   15 
Volutes,    spiral,   75 
Voysey,    145 

W 

Wainscot,    137 
Waldorf,  The    (see  Hotel) 
Walks,   322,   325 
Water   supply,   227 
Weather-vanes,  317 


348 


INDEX 


Welsh,  early  colonists,  187,  188 
West,    Middle    (Chicago),    198-199, 

207 

Westminster  Abbey,  53 
"Westover,"    190 

West  Point  Military  Academy,   123 
"Westwood,"  136 
White,  Stanford,  158,  180,  197 
"Whitehall,"    190 
William  and  Mary,  69,  140 
Windows,    casement,    136-137,    150- 

151,  175,  280,  318-319,  330 
oriel,  137 


Windows,  bay,  137,  138 
dormer,  .159 

"Wollaton,"    136 

Woods,  building,  283,  285 
for  interior  trim,  333 

Woolworth  "Building,  detailed  analy- 
sis, 126,  211 

Working  drawings    (see  Drawings) 

World's  Fair  of  1893,  196 

Wren,  Sir  Christopher,  69,  185,  136- 
137,  140,  179 

Wright,  Frank  Lloyd,  199,  207 

"Wynnestay,"  188 


UCLA-AUPL 

NA  2520  P93p 


L  005  861  348  0 


"    001243317 


